NOW A MAJOR TELEVISION SERIES, BAD BLOOD! Bestselling crime writers Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso reveal the final years of Canada's top mafia boss, Vito Rizzuto, and his bloody war to avenge his family and control the North American drug trade.
Until Vito Rizzuto went to prison in 2006 for his role in a decades-old Brooklyn triple murder, he ruled the Port of Montreal, the northern gateway to the major American drug markets. A master diplomat, he won the respect of rival mafia clans, bikers and street gangs, and criminal business thrived on his turf. His family prospered and his empire grew--until one of North America's true Teflon dons finally lost his veneer. As he watched helplessly from his Colorado prison, the murders of his son and father made international headlines; the killings of his lieutenants and friends filled the pages of Canadian news; and the influence of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian Mafia, spread across Montreal faster than the blood of Rizzuto's crime family. In 2012, Vito Rizzuto emerged from prison, a 66-year-old man who could carefully rebuild his criminal empire or seek bloody revenge and damn the consequences. From the events leading to his imprisonment to his shocking death in December 2013, Business or Blood is the final chapter of Vito's story.
“Could possibly be one of the best reads of the 2015 mafia books . . . offers a seldom seen look into the Montreal mafia and the Rizzuto crime family.” —About The Mafia “The Rizzuto family story . . . seems like the perfect plot for another The Godfather film.” —Justine Lewkowicz, NewsTalk1010.com “Edwards and Nicaso do a fine job of connecting the dots of criminal enterprises spanning several decades in numerous countries and including various ethno-cultural groups. . . . The authors have done exhaustive research to provide readers with the necessary background regarding organized crime in Quebec, eastern Ontario, Italy and the U.S. Their research includes information that could only be gleaned from those close to the action. . . . In Business or Blood, fans of the true-crime genre have a comprehensive telling of a recent, bloody chapter of Canadian organized-crime history. It explores the reasons mass bloodlettings take place and the repercussions for organized crime and society.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“You may be astonished at how much money, power and influence the real-life Rizzuto family of Montreal amassed and how it all came so violently tumbling down.” —CBC
PRAISE FOR PETER EDWARDS AND ANTONIO NICASO: “Peter Edwards knows how real bad guys eat, sleep, and breathe, and on the page brings them to life--even the dead ones--better than any other true crime writer.” —Linwood Barclay, international bestselling author
“Nicaso is a world-renowned expert on organized crime.” —Julian Sher, Toronto Star
PETER EDWARDS is the organized-crime beat reporter for the Toronto Star and the bestselling author of seventeen non-fiction books and one young adult novel. His works have been published in four languages. Edwards is a member of Top Left Entertainment, a production development company, and an executive producer for the Citytv series Bad Blood, created by New Metric Media and aired on Netflix. His book One Dead Indian: The Premier, the Police and the Ipperwash Crisis was made into the Gemini Award–winning movie One Dead Indian by Sienna Films that aired on CTV. Edwards was awarded an eagle feather from the Union of Ontario Indians and a gold medal from the Centre for Human Rights. His book Delusion (published in Europe as The Infiltrator) is on the CIA’s recommended reading list for staff and agents.
View titles by Peter Edwards
ANTONIO NICASO is a bestselling author of 27 books on organized crime, a regular consultant to governments and law-enforcement agencies, a keynote speaker at symposia around the world, and a lecturer at several universities. He teaches postgraduate courses on the history of organized crime at School of Languages of Middlebury College at Mills (California). In Italy, Nicaso has co-authored 9 bestselling books, including La Malapianta (The Bad Seed, Mondadori), which sold more than 110,000 copies in its first year of publication.
View titles by Antonio Nicaso
NOW A MAJOR TELEVISION SERIES, BAD BLOOD! Bestselling crime writers Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso reveal the final years of Canada's top mafia boss, Vito Rizzuto, and his bloody war to avenge his family and control the North American drug trade.
Until Vito Rizzuto went to prison in 2006 for his role in a decades-old Brooklyn triple murder, he ruled the Port of Montreal, the northern gateway to the major American drug markets. A master diplomat, he won the respect of rival mafia clans, bikers and street gangs, and criminal business thrived on his turf. His family prospered and his empire grew--until one of North America's true Teflon dons finally lost his veneer. As he watched helplessly from his Colorado prison, the murders of his son and father made international headlines; the killings of his lieutenants and friends filled the pages of Canadian news; and the influence of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian Mafia, spread across Montreal faster than the blood of Rizzuto's crime family. In 2012, Vito Rizzuto emerged from prison, a 66-year-old man who could carefully rebuild his criminal empire or seek bloody revenge and damn the consequences. From the events leading to his imprisonment to his shocking death in December 2013, Business or Blood is the final chapter of Vito's story.
Praise
“Could possibly be one of the best reads of the 2015 mafia books . . . offers a seldom seen look into the Montreal mafia and the Rizzuto crime family.” —About The Mafia “The Rizzuto family story . . . seems like the perfect plot for another The Godfather film.” —Justine Lewkowicz, NewsTalk1010.com “Edwards and Nicaso do a fine job of connecting the dots of criminal enterprises spanning several decades in numerous countries and including various ethno-cultural groups. . . . The authors have done exhaustive research to provide readers with the necessary background regarding organized crime in Quebec, eastern Ontario, Italy and the U.S. Their research includes information that could only be gleaned from those close to the action. . . . In Business or Blood, fans of the true-crime genre have a comprehensive telling of a recent, bloody chapter of Canadian organized-crime history. It explores the reasons mass bloodlettings take place and the repercussions for organized crime and society.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“You may be astonished at how much money, power and influence the real-life Rizzuto family of Montreal amassed and how it all came so violently tumbling down.” —CBC
PRAISE FOR PETER EDWARDS AND ANTONIO NICASO: “Peter Edwards knows how real bad guys eat, sleep, and breathe, and on the page brings them to life--even the dead ones--better than any other true crime writer.” —Linwood Barclay, international bestselling author
“Nicaso is a world-renowned expert on organized crime.” —Julian Sher, Toronto Star
PETER EDWARDS is the organized-crime beat reporter for the Toronto Star and the bestselling author of seventeen non-fiction books and one young adult novel. His works have been published in four languages. Edwards is a member of Top Left Entertainment, a production development company, and an executive producer for the Citytv series Bad Blood, created by New Metric Media and aired on Netflix. His book One Dead Indian: The Premier, the Police and the Ipperwash Crisis was made into the Gemini Award–winning movie One Dead Indian by Sienna Films that aired on CTV. Edwards was awarded an eagle feather from the Union of Ontario Indians and a gold medal from the Centre for Human Rights. His book Delusion (published in Europe as The Infiltrator) is on the CIA’s recommended reading list for staff and agents.
View titles by Peter Edwards
ANTONIO NICASO is a bestselling author of 27 books on organized crime, a regular consultant to governments and law-enforcement agencies, a keynote speaker at symposia around the world, and a lecturer at several universities. He teaches postgraduate courses on the history of organized crime at School of Languages of Middlebury College at Mills (California). In Italy, Nicaso has co-authored 9 bestselling books, including La Malapianta (The Bad Seed, Mondadori), which sold more than 110,000 copies in its first year of publication.
View titles by Antonio Nicaso
