On Aug. 14, 1975, eight daring thieves ransacked 148 massive safe-deposit boxes at a secret bank used by organized crime, La Cosa Nostra, and its associates in Providence, R.I. The crooks fled with duffle bags crammed full of cash, gold, silver, stamps, coins, jewels and high-end jewelry. The true value of the loot has always been kept secret, partly because it was ill-gotten to begin with, and partly because there was plenty of incentive to keep its true worth out of the limelight. It's one thing for authorities to admit they didn't find a trace of goods worth from $3 million to $4 million, and entirely another when what was at stake was more accurately valued at about $30 million, the equivalent of $120 million today. It was the biggest single payday in the criminal history of the Northeast. Nobody came close, not the infamous James "Whitey" Bulger, not John "The Dapper Don" Gotti, not even the Brinks or Wells Fargo robbers. The heist was bold enough and big enough to rock the underworld to its core, and it left La Cosa Nostra in the region awash in turmoil that still reverberates more than forty years later. Last Good Heist is the inside story of the robbery and its aftermath.
"Raymond Patriarca - a mob boss more frightening and more powerful than Whitey Bulger on his best day. I thought I knew all there was to know about this major player in organized crime history but I was wrong - dead wrong. Now comes The Last Good Heist, a classic gangster yarn from Tim White, Randall Richard and Wayne Worcester. Together, these authors weave a story that is too unbelievable to be true. But it is. Through exhaustive research and a wildly entertaining narrative, White, Richard and Worcester show us how the once powerful New England Mafia was destroyed to rubble from within. The Last Good Heist is a damn good ride." -Casey Sherman, New York Times Bestselling Author of "The Finest Hours," "Boston Strong" and "Animal: The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mob's Most Feared Assassin." *** "An incredibly entertaining true crime saga that catapults you into a world of incorrigible thieves, powerful Mafiosi and cunning cops. This masterfully written and thoroughly researched book by White, Richard and Worcester, three journalists who know the story best, makes you feel like you are there in mid-70s Providence, RI, rubbing elbows with the crooks and ducking for cover. A vivid account and a great, great read." -Shelley Murphy, co-author of New York Times Bestseller "Whitey Bulger." *** "The Last Good Heist is an adrenaline rush, a page-turning true-crime thriller that takes the reader inside one of the greatest Mafia capers of all time. The all-star cast of mobsters, stickup artists, career scammers and screw-ups who scheme to loot a wise guys' secret vault steps right out of Goodfellas and The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. I didn't want it to end. I picture the Deuce, one of the all-time great characters, still on the lam. And I wonder about the lost treasure that's never been found - $30 million of cash, gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds, rubies - the stuff that underworld dreams are made of." -Mike Stanton, bestselling author of "The Prince of Providence: The True Story of Buddy Cianci, America's Most Notorious Mayor, Some Wiseguys and the Feds." *** "The authors offer a richly detailed account of the robbery itself, the criminal and personal histories of the men who pulled it off, and the stupid mistakes and the investigative tactics that eventually brought some, but not all of them, to justice." -Bruce DeSilva, former Providence journalist and Edgar Award-winning author of the Mulligan crime novels
