Friends of Ours

Friends of Ours

Every mob story leaves fingerprints. Some are buried in court records, FBI files, and yellowed newspaper clippings. Others live in the minds of the writers who spend years chasing the truth through smoke-filled histories, whispered legends, and forgotten crimes. Friends of Ours is where those storytellers step out of the shadows. Here, CrimeAndCocktails.net sits down with the authors, historians, and researchers who have dedicated themselves to uncovering the men, murders, betrayals, and empires that shaped organized crime. Through exclusive interviews, we explore the stories behind their books, the investigations behind their discoveries, and the realities hidden beneath decades of myth. Pull up a chair, pour yourself something strong, and meet the people who know where the bodies are buried—even if they only found them in the archives.

The Lansky Legacy
The Lansky Legacy: The Grandson Behind the Name Tells a Different Story
C.F. Marciano
The Lansky Legacy: The Grandson Behind the Name Tells a Different Story By C.F. Marciano Few names from organized crime history have endured like Meyer Lansky. Decades after his death, the man often called...
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Fred "Killer" Burke
The Story That Wouldn't Stay Buried: Chriss Lyon, Fred "Killer" Burke, and the Hunt That Changed a Town
C.F. Marciano
Some stories begin with a newspaper clipping. Others begin with a police file gathering dust in an archive. For author Chriss Lyon, it began with her grandmother. When Lyon was only seven years old, her...
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Roy Albert DeMeo: The Butcher of Brooklyn

C.F. Marciano

Roy Albert DeMeo: The Butcher of BrooklynSome gangsters made their money through gambling. Others built empires through labor racketeering, political

From the Boys

Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria: The Old King of New York’s Underworld

C.F. Marciano

Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria: The Old King of New York’s Underworld Joe Masseria looked exactly like what he was.

From the Boys

Joseph Colombo: The Mob Boss Who Stepped Into the Spotlight

C.F. Marciano

Joseph Colombo: The Mob Boss Who Stepped Into the Spotlight Joe Colombo wanted to change the image of the Mafia.

From the Boys

Paul Castellano: The Quiet King Behind the Concrete Mansion

C.F. Marciano

Paul Castellano: The Quiet King Behind the Concrete MansionPaul Castellano did not look like the kind of gangster who needed

From the Boys

Harry “Happy” Maione: Murder, Inc.’s Smiling Executioner

C.F. Marciano

Harry "Happy" Maione: Murder, Inc.'s Smiling ExecutionerThe nickname didn't fit the work.Harry "Happy" Maione carried a grin that friends remembered

From the Boys

Jacob “Gurrah” Shapiro: The Muscle Behind the Garment District

C.F. Marciano

Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro: The Muscle Behind the Garment DistrictBefore the Mafia became a national institution, before Las Vegas glittered with

From the Boys

About Me

C.F Marciano

C.F Marciano

C.F. Marciano is a mob historian with a taste for the dark, smoky corners of New York’s underworld—and the cocktails that fueled it. Known for his gritty, unapologetic style, Marciano writes mafia blogs that bleed with bullets, bourbon, and betrayal. His book Make Him a Drink He Can’t Refuse blends true crime and booze with the precision of a made man mixing a Manhattan. With a razor-sharp focus on the New York Mafia of the 1930s through the 1960s, Marciano doesn’t just tell mob stories—he pours them straight up, no chaser.

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