Ratman

With a $2 million reward on his head, James “Whitey” Bulger had been the most-wanted fugitive in America for 16 years when he was captured by the FBI in June 2011. Two years later, this Boston organized-crime boss went on trial in his hometown. In his latest book, Ratman: The Trial and Conviction of Whitey Bulger, New York Times best-selling author Howie Carr chronicles the trial of this notorious mob boss, who was charged with 19 murders. Carr describes the 7-week trial in vivid detail, using photographs submitted as evidence and excerpts from previously sealed FBI reports to illustrate the parade of hitmen, drug dealers, bookies, and crooked FBI agents testifying against their former boss. Carr also shares accounts of a uniquely personal nature, including testimony from one of Bulger’s hitman that Whitey ordered him to kill Carr in the driveway of his home. After seeing Carr walk out his front door holding the hand of his young daughter, the hitman got cold feet. Despite Bulger’s attempts to keep this Boston Herald columnist and radio talk-show host out of the courtroom by listing him as a defense witness, the judge allowed Carr to cover the trial, putting readers in the front row at one of the most entrancing murder trials in recent history. This book is the perfect gift for any true-crime fan.