''Breakshot: A Life in the 21st Century American Mafia'' is an American memoir by Kenny "Kenji" Gallo, a former member of the

Colombo Crime Family The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was duri ...

and The Milano Brothers who became an informant in the federal

witness protection program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

. The book, which was titled after the undercover code name the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

gave him, was released by

Phoenix Books Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, ...

in August 2009, with co-writer Matthew Randazzo V.

Storyline

The book is a story of life as a criminal and mafia associate. ''Breakshot'' includes Gallo's efforts to solve the 1987 murder of Joe Avila, a local restaurateur in Orange County, California, who was also said to be one of OC's biggest cocaine dealers in the 1980s. After years in the mob, Gallo turned informant and wore an undercover wire against New York's Colombo and Lucchese Mafia Families, as well as the Milano family, in exchange for a fresh start in life witness protection program.

Lawsuits

Gallo filed a lawsuit in 2011 against Phoenix Books for publishing his autobiography ''Breakshot: A Life in the 21st Century American Mafia'' without a contract, taking his copyright, and selling the paperback rights to Simon & Schuster without his permission and without paying him. The suit was settled, according to ''

Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service is a news service primarily focusing on civil litigation. Its core audience is lawyers and law firms, who subscribe to the service;Courthouse News Service v. Schaefer', Civil Action No. 2:18-cv-39 (E.D. Va. February 20, ...

''.Courthouse News Service
/ref> In February 2014, Gallo filed a second lawsuit, this one against

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, claiming that Simon & Schuster stole rights to his autobiography by registering the copyright under his co-author's and former publisher's names.

Critical reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' wrote, in a starred review, "Crammed with the kind of characters and detail that make pages turn and moviemakers salivate, self-described 'mobster, drug lord, and porn kingpin,' Gallo's story of life as a criminal and Mafia associate is tantalizing material." '' Blogcritics'', in a November 2009 review by Scott Deitche wrote, "''Breakshot'' joins the canon of better Mafia books, and among the subgenre of Mafia tell-alls, it's one of the strongest in recent years". The '' OC Weekly'' wrote that the book "sheds new light on Newport Beach’s dark past as a haven for Italian mobsters and Colombian cartel figures."

TV adaptation

In 2011, ''Breakshot'' was optioned by producer Henrik Bastin and sold to

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...

for development as a weekly hour-long dramatic series with

Robert Moresco Robert Moresco is an American producer, screenwriter, director and actor. His credits include the films ''10th & Wolf'' and ''Crash''. Moresco's script for ''Crash'' won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, which he shared with co-wr ...

as producer/screenwriter.

References

External links

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Breakshot blogWireNews press release in the UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breakshot 2009 non-fiction books American autobiographies Non-fiction books about Italian-American organized crime Organized crime memoirs