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Book Summary and Reviews of Covert by Bob Delaney with Dave Scheiber

Covert by Bob Delaney with Dave Scheiber

Covert

My Years Infiltrating the Mob

by Bob Delaney with Dave Scheiber

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Published:
  • Feb 2008, 288 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

NBA referee Bob Delaney reveals the clandestine life he led before becoming one of professional basketball’s most respected referees. In 1975, Delaney had spent only a year and a half as a New Jersey State Trooper when his superiors approached him with a tantalizing yet dangerous undercover assignment: to infiltrate the Mob. Delaney accepted, and became Bobby Covert, the president of Alamo Trucking, a fully-operational business used by law enforcement as flypaper for snagging crooks. At the height of The Godfather era, Delaney wore a wire and lived among wiseguys who modeled themselves on their on-screen counterparts, quoting lines from “The Movie” and boasting of how often they’d seen it.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"[T]hose who appreciate a good Cosa Nostra story, and crime buffs in general, will find much to enjoy in this energetic, often humorous and always entertaining memoir. A slam dunk, a bull's eye and any other glowing Mafia or basketball metaphor you can think of." - Kirkus Reviews.

"Starred Review. NBA referee Delaney's fascinating account of his prior life as a New Jersey state trooper who infiltrated organized crime will be a must-read for those drawn to Joe Pistone's similar account in Donnie Brasco (or the movie adaptation starring Johnny Depp)." - Publishers Weekly.

"Delaney offers a compelling account of a nerve-racking double life ...." - Library Journal.

This information about Covert was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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More Information

Movie rights have been bought by ESPN.

More Author Information

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