Love or Honor: The True Story of an Undercover Cop Who Fell in Love With a Mafia Boss's Daughter - Hardcover

Barthel, Joan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688074855 ISBN 13: 9780688074852

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1989

Synopsis

Chronicles the experiences of a New York City cop who went undercover to infiltrate the Mafia and--though married and with a family--fell in love with the capo's daughter

About this title

From Library Journal:

New York City policeman Chris Anastos infiltrated organized crime as an undercover agent in 1975. In the process, he began dating the daughter of a Mafioso. When Anastos surfaced in 1980, his marriage was destroyed, and he suffered guilt feelings as a result of his dual identity. For some reason--the passage of time or perhaps Anastos's reluctance--Barthel, who also wrote A Death in Canaan (LJ 12/15/76) and A Death in California ( LJ 9/1/81), presents a curiously circumscribed story which contains only incidental information about the Mafia. While not without appeal, this book could have been much better. A more insightful and compelling book on a similar theme is Joseph Pistone's Donnie Brasco: An FBI Agent Undercover in the Mafia (NAL Bks., 1987).
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Chris Anastos, a happily married Greek-American police officer working in the Bronx, was sent on an undercover assignment to infiltrate a Greek gang in Astoria, Queens, that was thought to have Mafia connections. He spent five years on that job, gained acceptance by the Mafiosi and presumably gathered important information, although Bartels ( A Death in Canaan ) is sketchy on the details of just what Anastos accomplished. He had an affair with the daughter of a Mafia leader--identified here only by the first name John--while his marriage was breaking up, presumably because of the absences his undercover work demanded. (When the job ended, so did the affair.) Expertly written, the book tells Anastos' story with the force and flair of a high-caliber TV miniseries.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0688074855
• ISBN 13: 9780688074852
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 263