Undercover Cop by Mike Russell with Patrick W. Picciarelli

Undercover Cop:  How I Brought Down the Real-Life Sopranos, Mike Russell with Patrick W. Picciarelli.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2013.  e-book, 237 pps.

     Mike Russell was working undercover with a rep as a rogue cop that had been fired.  He was working the streets of Newark looking for some action.  First he hooked up with a couple of young thugs from the Lucchese  Mafia family but that didn't go so well.  After that, he happened to meet Andy Gerardo who was one of the higher-ups of the Genovese family.

     Andy Gerardo believed Mike Russell's cover story-- that he was in the oil delivery business and also removed furnaces.  But nothing much happened for awhile until Russell hired himself out as a bodyguard for a crooked Jersey police chief.  His rep got around and he was in.

     After the plug was pulled on the undercover op, Russell went freelance so that way he could still work undercover which resulted in a bunch of arrests.

sapphoq reviews says:  I enjoyed Undercover Cop immensely.  It is an excellent addition to any library involving the Mafia.  Some of the last names in this book and the landmarks were familiar to me.  Undercover Cop has the smell of truth.  Mike Russell comes off as a tenacious individual who served the community well in taking some killers and extortionists off the street.  Highly recommended.