The Westies Book

Even among the Mob, the Westies were feared. Out of a partnership between two sadistic thugs, James Coonan and Mickey Featherstone, the gang rose out of the inferno of Hell's Kitchen, a decaying tenderloin slice of New York City's West Side. They became the most notorious gang in the history of organized crime, excelling in extortion, numbers running, loansharking, and drug peddling. Upping the ante on depravity, their specialty was execution by dismemberment. Though never numbering more than a dozen members, their reign lasted for almost twenty years-until their own violent natures got the best of them, precipitating a downfall that would become as infamous as their notorious ascension into the annals of crime. AUTHORBIO: T.J. ENGLISH covered the lengthy Westies RICO trial for the Irish Voice and had close to one hundred hours of telephone conversations with Mickey Featherstone, who is currently in the Federal Witness Protection Program. For this book, English gathered information from over three hundred sources, including interviews with other gang members, lawyers, cops and neighborhood residents. He lives in New York City.Read More