After enemies murdered his family and plundered his empire, a legendary Mafioso emerged from prison to a fateful dilemma: Rebuild or seek revenge?
Montreal godfather Vito Rizzuto sat helpless in a Colorado penitentiary while learning that unidentified assassins had killed his eldest son, and likely heir, and then murdered his father. Subsequent deaths of Vito’s loyal associates filled the news throughout hissentence. From their comfortable base in the Toronto area, the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta seemed the obvious culprits; but, as internationally bestselling crime writers Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso reveal in this compelling and far-reaching investigation, many unseen hands were at work. In 2012, Vito Rizzuto emerged from prison, a sixty-six-year-old man who could carefully reconstruct his crime family or damn the consequences and punish his betrayers. From the events leading to his imprisonment, through the bloodshed following his release, to his mysterious death in 2013 and morerecent efforts to continue his family’s dominance, Bad Blood is the final word in the story of a twenty-first-century criminal mastermind.
“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
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
After enemies murdered his family and plundered his empire, a legendary Mafioso emerged from prison to a fateful dilemma: Rebuild or seek revenge?
Montreal godfather Vito Rizzuto sat helpless in a Colorado penitentiary while learning that unidentified assassins had killed his eldest son, and likely heir, and then murdered his father. Subsequent deaths of Vito’s loyal associates filled the news throughout hissentence. From their comfortable base in the Toronto area, the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta seemed the obvious culprits; but, as internationally bestselling crime writers Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso reveal in this compelling and far-reaching investigation, many unseen hands were at work. In 2012, Vito Rizzuto emerged from prison, a sixty-six-year-old man who could carefully reconstruct his crime family or damn the consequences and punish his betrayers. From the events leading to his imprisonment, through the bloodshed following his release, to his mysterious death in 2013 and morerecent efforts to continue his family’s dominance, Bad Blood is the final word in the story of a twenty-first-century criminal mastermind.
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
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
