A Jew­ish Tony Sopra­no? Meet Louis Fer­rante. In his mem­oir, Unlocked, Fer­rante gives a voyeuris­tic account of his days immersed in New York City’s world of orga­nized crime. Writ­ten with ter­rif­ic can­dor effort­less­ly incor­po­rat­ing street talk into his mas­ter­ful sto­ry­telling, Fer­rante recalls his life as one of the most lucra­tive crim­i­nals John Got­ti ever had on his pay­roll. Ferrante’s vignettes of heists and thiev­ery, sprin­kled with capers involv­ing gam­bling and women, make for great read­ing. The fun ends when Fed­er­al agents appre­hend Fer­rante after an extend­ed inves­ti­ga­tion. This part of the sto­ry reads like a Scors­ese movie, a cat and mouse game in which you know the mouse is doomed to capture. 

After Fer­rante is impris­oned, the tone of the book changes. Ferrante’s time in prison is a try­ing, but thought­ful peri­od. Even through the rig­ors and tri­als of this dark expe­ri­ence, Fer­rante main­tains his abil­i­ty to cap­ti­vate his read­er with his sto­ry­telling. Though not Jew­ish dur­ing his days as a lead­ing Mafioso, in prison Fer­rante ​“decid­ed to live by the Torah; it works for me.” Ferrante’s engross­ing mem­oir is one that works, period.