Jeanne M. (ReaderByTheSea) reviewed Brutal : The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob on + 49 more book reviews
Book by a member of Bulger's circle who knew him well and worked beside him in Boston.
Karen D. (Kraduate) reviewed Brutal : The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob on + 35 more book reviews
Kevin Weeks's account of his years spent as Jimmy âWhiteyâ Bulger's right-hand man is the most fascinating kind of True Crime. It makes sense that these guys eluded the law for so long. His story rings of truth and although you know you can't trust a criminal 100% you eagerly gulp every inch of crap he shovels. The writing is sprinkled with colloquialisms; this is a dude from Southie just shootin' the sh--. There's also a disturbing detachment and blatant unapologetic tone. This is a guy who at a book signing said he would have gone back to being a criminal once he was out of prison, if it weren't for the book. ''Now I can't. Everybody knows my face." Yeah, he's not sorry and it amazes me how little time he actually spent in jail. Makes me wonder who the real brain is; one is doing life, the other is on the lam (honestly, I think he's dead but that's just meâ¦). Kevin is free and living in Massachusetts.
Kevin was basically Bulger's muscle. His main job was to intimidate and beat the crap out of people. He freely admits to crimes such as extortion but places himself as merely a witness in multiple murders. He was in the other room, he dug a hole, he got the body bag. He never admits to doing the deed. Yet there is one part where he describes enthusiastically volunteering to kill someone, on his own too, but that murder ended up not taking place. It's moments like this when I was questioning just how true of an account I was reading. So, he volunteered for a murder that never happened, but with all the ones that did occur, he was simply a witness? Hmmmâ¦
I'm not fully buying Kevin's claim that he was shocked that Whitey and Flemmi were FBI informants. Did he really think that an FBI agent was freely passing on information and not getting anything in return? Plus with all the time Whitey and Flemmi spent without Kevin, vacationing together and such, wouldn't it be safe to assume they had something to hide? I can't imagine that with his self-proclaimed genius IQ, Kevin really had no idea they were rats. Overall, a fascinating tale of Kevin's life from his childhood up until his decision to cooperate with the authorities against Jimmy Bulger and Stevie Flemmi. (Hey, you can't rat on a rat, right?)
Kevin was basically Bulger's muscle. His main job was to intimidate and beat the crap out of people. He freely admits to crimes such as extortion but places himself as merely a witness in multiple murders. He was in the other room, he dug a hole, he got the body bag. He never admits to doing the deed. Yet there is one part where he describes enthusiastically volunteering to kill someone, on his own too, but that murder ended up not taking place. It's moments like this when I was questioning just how true of an account I was reading. So, he volunteered for a murder that never happened, but with all the ones that did occur, he was simply a witness? Hmmmâ¦
I'm not fully buying Kevin's claim that he was shocked that Whitey and Flemmi were FBI informants. Did he really think that an FBI agent was freely passing on information and not getting anything in return? Plus with all the time Whitey and Flemmi spent without Kevin, vacationing together and such, wouldn't it be safe to assume they had something to hide? I can't imagine that with his self-proclaimed genius IQ, Kevin really had no idea they were rats. Overall, a fascinating tale of Kevin's life from his childhood up until his decision to cooperate with the authorities against Jimmy Bulger and Stevie Flemmi. (Hey, you can't rat on a rat, right?)
