It's called "Black Mass" by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill and it chronicles the inside corruption of the FBI and the notorious Boston gangster Whitey Bulger. Being a huge fan of the Scorsese film "The Departed" I saw a lot of parallels. It wasn't until a little fact checking that I realized Jack Nicholson had actually modeled his role of Costello after the notorious Bulger, and in fact the movie is a lose interpretation of the events!
I like the writing style of the book that evokes the 1970's era South Boston, and I'm disturbed a bit to know I've actually stepped across some of these crime scenes without even knowing it.
It made me a bit disenchanted with the FBI, who I had regarded as the font of authority and knowledge. Probably thanks to Hollywood I imagined they all had nice cars, stunning haircuts and knew the secret to playing Moonlight Sonata backwards while looking at a Van Gogh painting to catch a killer.
Truth is they are as corruptible and human as the rest of us. And like the saying goes, the higher you rise, the further you fall. It wasn't until 1999 that a court order mandated the ugly truth surface. After decades of adamantly denying any wrong-doing, the documents were unveiled.
The FBI had allowed killers to run free in Boston, to harass innocent people, slay rivals, and generally cause social decay. They had turned a blind eye as a repayment to Bulger who had turned informant on the Italian Mafia. Worse, they had kept this from the local authorities who for years could not understand just how Bulger was always eluding their well placed schemes to capture him.
The underlying theme of the book is that no matter who you are, what fancy title your job gives you, or your background, you're as susceptible to the siren call of money and power as anyone else. These factors just determine how long you can hold on to that power.
If you knew you could get away with it, what crime would you commit?
"I'm the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy. "
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