This investigative report / history of the corruption of some Boston FBI agents and their Irish Mob informants is fascinating and unnerving at the same time. John Connolly, an FBI agent born in South Boston and James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, also of South Boston but a mobster, grew up on the same streets. Reconnecting after Connolly joins the FBI movement to get ‘the Mafia’, Bulger and his partner Stevey Flemmy become informants, while given a free hand to commit crimes. Rubinstein’s narration sounds like a 60 Minutes expose, broken only by dialog in an Boston accent, easily identifiable to non-New Englanders. As the investigation gains momentum and more ‘bad guys’ are captured, the noose tightens on Connolly and Bulger and their activities. Cover up and deceit are common themes uncovered by the investigation. One is left wondering what other crimes and corruption have infiltrated our ‘law enforcement’ agencies.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2001
Duration: 6 hrs
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The events of the Tom Capano-Anne Marie Fahey case are not unusual. A philandering, self-centered man has relationships with women who are easily controlled. He seduces them, provides the gentle concern they crave and, once caught, demeans them until their self-esteem is gone, leaving them completely dependent upon him. Sadly, this scenario happens all too often. This time, the result is a brutal murder. Because the principals were prominent in Delaware politics, the story attracted media attention. Rule handles the sensational details crisply, professionally, and with a storyteller's flair. Narrator Laura Hicks provides exactly the reading Rule's book demands, keeping listeners riveted. She manages to maintain interest through necessary passages of mundane exposition. Some of her pronunciations are suspect, but with her pleasing voice, Hicks gives a balanced, nonjudgmental performance.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 21 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America/ Sound Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Is this book for burglars, or those who fear them? It's a little hard to tell, which is a problem. Another is that it is more a padded blog or magazine piece than an audiobook with a coherent thesis. While much of the material is interesting the first time you hear it, the second and third times tend to pall, as do lists of things like shapes of lockpicks we will never see or care about. Scott Aiello, so good at fiction, here gets in the way as he tries to breathe drama into material that has no emotional content, and overplays any hint of wit or irony, as if he were performing a snarky SNL skit instead of letting the listener hear what's there.
Pub Date: April 5, 2016
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781524702212
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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