For the Sins of My Father: A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Life

A different take on the mafia life, told from the perspective of a son of a mobster. It is the story of a son’s enduring love for his father who led a compartmentalized life as a devoted family man and a criminal steeped in a dangerous lifestyle as a member of the Italian mafia.

I found this book while searching around on amazon.com and for some reason, probably because of the "biblical" title, it caught my eye. As I picked up the book and started to read, the first thing I noticed was the fact that the author, Albert DeMeo, was trying to convey something that I figured was going to be a theme throughout the book, which was family is everything.Albert DeMeo, the author, is the son of notorious killer Roy DeMeo from the Gambino Crime Family in New York City. The story starts by showing the author in his naive youthfulness around the ages of 5 and 6 years old. But then he started to notice that he was different when he got odd stares and glances from other cousins as they watched a mob movie. It seemed as he was the butt of a joke without knowing it. DeMeo tells of his early life learning that he had a lot of "uncles" that weren't kin to him and that were spread throughout the city, as he watched his dad collect envelopes and given much respect wherever they went. Not a normal respect, but a suspicious one.As the story unfolds, DeMeo tells of his life of becoming a young wiseguy and the rise of his father as he becomes a capo in the Gambino Crime Family. The story mainly takes place in the 70's and early 80's and is very detailed on many accounts of the day to day life of his father "passing down the business." It feels like a confession of sorts in story form. I will say that DeMeo does not seem to hold anything back about his dad. He tells of his dad's car theft ring that was the largest in New York City, loan sharking, filthy prostitution and sex shop business and the impact that it had on Albert as he watched this filthy business unfold. I was surprised at how even one that had witnessed many things in his life, still found the sex shops and theatres that his dad owned and did business with as polluted filth.Behind all this, the reader finds a deep relationship between father and son. It was actually one that was very well described and one that was also very troubling. Although Roy DeMeo took care of his family in one sense, he put them in harms way with the work that he did and the absent nights away as he went on killing sprees and took care of other business. Yet, I found myself fond of the relationship that Roy DeMeo had with his family and especially his only son.What I find most sad is the deep impact that this played on Albert throughout his life. Although he was never deeply involved within the crime family, the parts he knew and lived made much of an impact until even now. Through all this, even in the deepest despair, he never goes to where he should have gone a long time ago. To Christ. Albert speaks of his mom sending him to confirmation classes in the Catholic church because she wanted him to have good morals and learn about God. But, this saddens me to think that the reason to send someone to church was merely to learn to be "good" instead of going to find Christ. This was obvious as Albert continued to look to himself in despair, without hope and even using Scriptures in the book as quotes that were obviously meaningless as he uses these alongside quotes from Machiavelli and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.The only Scripture that he uses that speaks volumes is the one that adorns the front of the book as the title.Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;Exodus 20:5The book is actually very well done and speaks volume to the insides of the mob and the families that are affected. I pray for Albert DeMeo and hope that the verses that he uses in his book would have more of an impact than mere recitations for chapter headings. Albert seems to be very honest with his life and his father's life that he lead. I pray that Albert can forgive himself and look to the cross of Christ and know that his sins have truly been paid for. In the end, if one wants an honest description of mob life, I would highly recommend this read as it shows all parts, not just the glamorized ones. Highly Recommended (with caution, adult material in parts)

Man, this is one great memoir. It happens to be about the son of a mobster, but that's not what made it great for me. It's the writing that flows as easy as the breeze and the way the author was able to articulate the complexity of the relationship between his beloved father and himself, how it slowly dawned on him what his dad did for a living, and how it changed his life. It's a coming of age story, but a coming of age way too young and with awful knowledge.I could understand both how his father intended him to have a regular non-mob life someday--become a doctor or lawyer or stockbroker--yet at the same time, feel he had to educate his son as to what he was involved in...I suppose, ultimately, to possibly protect him somehow by making him aware.It's a heart-wrenching book. The author's earliest years are lovely and I enjoyed the descriptions of Christmases and warm, happy get-togethers with his extended family, friends and neighbors. He tells how his father loved animals and once found a baby frog left behind by its mama, so he created a space under the porch for the baby frog to live, feeding it every day. Roy DeMeo clearly had two sides to him: one loving, protective and compassionate and the other...not so much. But the son never saw the violent side. He only realized slowly, in horrific moments, who and what his father was. It never affected his love for his dad, but he was so worried about him, he wouldn't sleep at night until he saw he'd made it home. That's from about age 7 or 9 on. The author had bleeding ulcers before he graduated high school. Talk about anxiety.I know his father didn't consciously mean to stress him out, but he put his little boy through too much, too soon. I don't want to do spoilers, but there is this one scenario in the basement of...I think the Gemini Club, his father's bar...when Albert wasn't even ten or twelve. But something was done there that I thought was just so awful. Between scenes like that and the author saying that one day, he just stopped feeling fear (or joy) -- I thought this kid is eventually going to get PTSD. I won't say if he did or what happens in this book, but it is absolutely riveting.I adored the end when Albert talks about the dream he always had about his father and him sitting in a boat. For so long, it remained the same. But at the end of the book, the dream changed in a wonderful way. Very satisfying.Highly recommended.

Poor Albert De Meo has clearly had a hard time accepting that his doting father was in fact heartless Mafia killer Roy De Meo, responsible for over 100 murders and the largest car-theft operation New York has ever seen. Some of the anecdotes are interesting, shedding light on the day-to-day life of De Meo and his loansharking operation/associates - things that don't get covered in the excellent Murder Machine - but the second half the book it becomes clear that Albert is very much in denial, and it's tragic how his life falls apart once the truth gets out. Interesting, in the sense that it gives a different, albeit heavily-biased view of Roy De Meo, from the point of view of the son who idolised him, but obviously an emotional one. Read Murder Machine first and then For the Sins of My Father for more information.

Although this will appeal mostly to American LCN (La Cosa Nostra) buffs, it's a well written and thoughful reflection of life inside a hidden subculture, and as such deserves a wider audience.Having a gangster for a dad clearly has its compensations - money (lots of money), respect, fear... but the ultimate message of this book is that crime doesn't pay.It's no real surprise to hear that De Meo senior was a great dad - even Murder Machine  Murder Machine noted that he was a devoted family man, after a fashion. But it is interesting to hear the details of how an alleged serial killer could be so loving at home.The emotional fallout from Roy's ignominious but predictable demise, is well wrought here by his son. Emotion gets in the way at times, as the narrative gives way to sniping at other authors and other narrators (Capeci, Montiglio & co.), but the book is broadly well balanced, and some partiality is to be expected.I don't think I'll need to keep my copy forever, but this is certainly an unusual and grimly diverting little book. Murder Machine

Excellent read, cant be easy being the son of a famous mass murderer

Fantastic book on the American mafia and one mans story about a family living within the Mafia

After reading murder machine I was interested to see Roy DeMeos sons view of the life . Was just as much a page turner as murder machine and showed how a mobsters murder affects his family