A Rookie Cop vs. the West Coast Mafia. Breaking Up The
Tanya Chalupa, William G. Palmini, Jr.In this gripping, true crime exposé, Bill Palmini, a rookie detective, hopes to take down the West Coast Mafia by gaining the confidence of notorious mob operative William Ettleman. Set against a backdrop of social turmoil, the book immerses readers in free love, drugs, robbery and murder, orchestrated by organized crime in locations like Sausalito, California. The Trident Restaurant, once a drug Mecca for Hollywood, the music industry and the New York hip, was co-owned by the Kingston Trio and their manager, Frank Werber, a self-proclaimed drug priest. Robin Williams worked as a busboy there and Janis Joplin had her own table. Sally Stanford, the former San Francisco Madam who later became Sausalito's mayor, was a confidant of the infamous. Ettleman's safecracking gang targets the Trident. Mobsters like Frank The Bomp" Bompensiero, on whom Sopranos character Big Pussy" is thought to have been based, become involved. Palmini, utilizing Ettleman, joins...