Family Secrets Audiobook By Jeff Coen cover art

Family Secrets

The Case That Crippled the Chicago Mob

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Family Secrets

By: Jeff Coen
Narrated by: Matthew Boston
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.91

Buy for $18.91

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Even in Chicago, a city steeped in mob history and legend, the Family Secrets case was a true spectacle when it made it to court in 2007. A top mob boss, a reputed consigliere, and other high-profile members of the Chicago Outfit were accused in a total of 18 gangland killings, revealing organized crime's ruthless grip on the city throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Painting a vivid picture of murder, courtroom drama, family loyalties and disloyalties, journalist Jeff Coen accurately portrays the Chicago Outfit's cold-blooded - and sometimes incompetent - killers and their crimes in the case that brought them down. In 1998 Frank Calabrese Jr. volunteered to wear a wire to gather evidence against his father, a vicious loan shark who strangled most of his victims with a rope before slitting their throats to ensure they were dead. Frank Jr. went after his uncle Nick as well, a calculating but sometimes bumbling hit man who would become one of the highest-ranking turncoats in mob history, admitting he helped strangle, stab, shoot, and bomb victims who got in the mob's way, and turning evidence against his brother Frank.

©2009 Jeff Coen (P)2017 Tantor
Organized Crime Mafia Chicago
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"[A] revealing, shocking book . . . superbly crafted." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Family Secrets

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    86
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    71
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    75
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Excellent story about the Chicago Mob. Well done. This was my first audiobook and It won't be the last!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Excellent history

It was a comprehensive telling of the trial that kept things moving along. I was enjoying this book because I lived the first 30 years of my life in Wrigleyville, and connected the cities neighborhoods with the gangsters in the trial.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exhaustive, coherent account of a complex trial

The author gives lots of good detail and makes the huge case understandable. The narrator adopts a passable Chicago accent for the gangster’s dialog, although pronunciation of certain place names (“Noperville” “Hyr-on”) suggests he is not native.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

details

great storytelling and the voice over is also good. I highly recommend this book. Great read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best

If you want a real, not glamorizing look at mafia, this is an excellent book to get

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

“You Do It”

Great true crime story. The performance is the best part. You literally feel your there at the trial of Joey the Clown, Jimmy Marcelo, & Frank Calabrese Sr. I’ve listened to it 3-4 times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent listen

Very informative and interesting. Not as good as the five families but pretty solid

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

good story tons of detail

good read holds your attention even though its full of detail it doesn't get boring.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really hard core .

Talks about many big name gangsters.Very informative one of the best mob books ever The Chicago outfit was is big.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outfit History and Family betrayal.

Great knowledge of the whole Outfit history, Plus the Calabrese family story. Definitely a good listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!