In Accardo: The Genuine Godfather William F. Roemer, Jr., has done a truly exceptional job of capturing the persona of Anthony Joseph Accardo, a.k.a. Joe Batters, a.k.a. The Big Tuna, who made an art form of deflecting attention away from himself even while conducting one of the most sinister and well organized crime syndicates in the nation's history. Tony Accardo began his criminal career as bodyguard to Al Capone and was a triggerman in the notorious St. Valentine's Day massacre of 1929. Under Capone, Accardo rose quickly to serve as the boss of the Chicago mob and as consiglieri, or the final word, in all major decisions until his death in 1992. Accardo, who designated such notorious men as Sam Giancana and Joey Aiuppa and Jackie Cerone to run the day-to-day operations of the Outfit, was instrumental in every major activity undertaken by the Outfit - including its groundbreaking move into Las Vegas and its hits on those within and without the organization - including, ultimately, Sam Giancana, who went against Accardo's remonstrations to "keep your head down." Only someone with Roemer's experience, which comes from daily face-to-face encounters with Accardo's top men and with Accardo himself, could have written this book - an important, definitive chronicle of the Chicago mob and its associates, and most especially a portrait of the complex and brilliant man who ran it from the top, a man who is literally synonymous with organized crime in America during the 20th century.