Linda Scarpa's Mafia Daughter Memoir Debuts

But few books have truly captured mob life the way Linda Scarpa has in her new book “The Mafia Hit Man's Daughter.”
Linda Scarpa's memoir about life with the mob hitter
known as the Grim Reaper aka Greg Scarpa.
Click on the cover to purchase....

By Nick Christophers, guest contributor, editor of Mob Candy (see his website):


We have been inundated with books, films and TV shows on the subject of the Mafia over the years. Wives, girlfriends and daughters have taken to the pen to expose their experiences. Yet many of them have either “sugar-coated” their stories or they really had no knowledge of “the life.”

One of the earliest books that delved deep into the life was “Mafia Marriage” by Rosalie Bonanno, who was married to Salvatore Vincent “Bill” Bonanno, the son of Cosa Nostra boss Joseph Bonanno.

Since then there have been many attempts to expose the true meaning of living in that world, e.g., “This Family of Mine” by Victoria Gotti, daughter of John Gotti, former boss of the Gambino crime family; “The Godfather’s Daughter” by Rita Gigante, daughter of Vincent Louis Gigante, also known as “Chin,” one-time boss of the Genovese crime family; and “Mob Daughter” by Karen Gravano, daughter of Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, a former underboss of the Gambino crime family.




But few books have truly captured mob life the way Linda Scarpa has in her new bookThe Mafia Hit Man's Daughter.”

The book is a page turner, offering names, dates and facts that are truly eye openers. Linda makes no effort to hide anything or to deviate from the truth. “The Mafia Hit Man’s Daughter” is laced with the love and passion her father, Colombo family hit man Greg Scarpa, had for her and she for him – as well as his passion for revenge. However, never does Linda attempt to paint her father – or anyone else in the life – as an angel.

This is evident when she describes the terror of being caught in the crossfire when a hit team is sent by her father’s enemies – members of a rival faction of the Colombo crime family – to murder him.

One day Linda was leaving the family’s house in Brooklyn with her infant son at the same time her father and a couple of guys in his crew were heading out. As she was pulling out of the driveway, a van came barreling up the street. Linda cut the van off. Before she knew what was happening, her father was ambushed by his enemies. She and her son were in the middle of the shooting.

 Linda makes no effort to hide anything or to deviate from the truth...


Paralyzed with fear, she watched as these assassins riddled her father’s car with bullets – some even hit her car. Somehow Greg survived but the love he had for his daughter and grandson, who both could have been killed, drove him to seek revenge on the men responsible. It was then that Linda realized her father wasn’t invincible and neither was his family.

“The Mafia Hit Man's Daughter” is not for the faint of heart as Linda recounts in often gruesome detail all the trials and tribulations she and her family suffered because her father was a big-time mobster. Greg Scarpa was a rare individual in the underworld; he played by his rules and only his rules. His main goal was to protect his family, not the Family. Greg was a true gangster but in his heart and mind, his blood family came first.

“This is a heartbreaking life, one day filled with an abundance of family and friends and love and the next day filled with heartache, loss and loneliness,” Linda said in an interview. “But the one thing that always stayed true is the unconditional love between a father and daughter. In my case I felt that no matter what, the true story needed to be told from inside our home. I tell my story from first-hand experiences, as only I can tell it because I was around my father through the best of times and the worst.”

The beauty of “The Mafia Hit Man’s Daughter” is that Linda does not paint a pretty picture of the life but rather offers shocking revelations about what goes on inside a Mafia family.

Linda tells of living with a man who truly did love his children and their mother but was swallowed up by the life in the end. People think they know who Linda’s father was – but they don’t. All they know is what they read in the tabloids or in books written by outsiders.

“The Mafia Hit Man's Daughter” is Linda Scarpa’s no-holds-barred story of what really went on behind closed doors, not some romanticized, glamorized version of her father’s involvement in the Mafia. It is a must-read for anyone interested in learning the truth about what it was like living with a loving, caring father, who was also an infamous Mafia hit man.

To learn more go to The Mafia Hit Man's Daughter



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