THE GOOD GUYS

Stephen Hoye has the stereotypical voice of the Mafia capo down pat. He’s so good at it that when he shouts threateningly, you start to duck. You don't even mind that the title here sounds like a rip-off of GOODFELLAS. The coauthors, the son of a Mafia don and a former undercover agent once known as Donnie Braskow, have put together another story of the underworld of crime. The book’s structure is interesting. In one chapter you get the Mob version of certain plans and events, and in paired chapters you get the FBI's take as they listen in with their bugging devices. When a university professor goes missing and the Mafia wants to find him, the agents want to know why. What they cook up makes for an intense and amusing plot. Hoye's portrayals of the FBI agents are as believable as those of his Mobsters. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 05]