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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Johnny “Dio” Dioguardi: The Mobster Who Controlled the Union Hall

C.F. Marciano

Johnny "Dio" Dioguardi: The Mobster Who Controlled the Union HallMost gangsters built their power with guns, gambling parlors, and protection

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

Joe Adonis: The Charming Prince of the Underworld

C.F. Marciano

Joe Adonis: The Charming Prince of the UnderworldJoe Adonis loved luxury the way some gangsters loved violence.Silk suits. Imported cigars.

From the Boys

Joe Profaci: The Godfather Who Ruled Through Fear, Faith, and Tribute

C.F. Marciano

Joe Profaci: The Godfather Who Ruled Through Fear, Faith, and Tribute Joe Profaci looked less like a gangster than a

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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