Ghosts of Sicily: The True Story of the Naval Intelligence Agents Who Courted the Mob to Fight Nazis in America and the Battlefields of Italy

Ghosts of Sicily.

It's 1942, and New York City is at war. German U-boats are sinking ships just miles offshore, and Washington, DC, is convinced that waterfront spies are providing intelligence targeting the ships. To thwart the threat, the Office of Naval Intelligence reaches out to those with the most sway along the waterfronts of Brooklyn and Manhattan – the mob. The result will be a triumph for the ONI and one of the most successful and controversial operations in the long history of what we now know as NCIS.

The Navy’s alliance with Charles “Lucky” Luciano and his organization will send New Yorker Tony Marsloe and his fellow ONI officers on an international odyssey that includes holding secret meetings with legendary criminals, hunting clandestine spy rings operating on U.S. soil, and conducting daring undercover missions behind the bloody frontlines of the invasion of Italy.

In addition to towering historic figures like Meyer Lansky and General George Patton, readers will encounter a kaleidoscope of agents and gangsters who not only shaped the war in Italy but the future of international crime itself.

Ghosts of Sicily: The True Story of the Naval Intelligence Agents Who Courted the Mob to Fight Nazis in America and the Battlefields of Italy.

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Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump

Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.

A riveting, intimate, and revelatory account of the most radical and consequential presidency of our time.

Regime Change

From the two reporters who have covered him more closely than perhaps anyone else over the past decade comes this definitive portrait of Donald Trump in the White House. Regime Change covers the first year of Trump’s second presidency—a term liberated from every constraint that defined his first. The generals who once told him “no” are gone, and the lawyers who remain have learned to pick their battles. His administration has flouted court orders and he has claimed powers that Congress once checked. What remains is a President willing to take enormous risks that have upended global markets and toppled heads of state; an imperial President operating almost entirely on instinct alone.

Based on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented reporting from deep within the administration’s most closely guarded rooms, Regime Change takes the reader inside the Situation Room and into the secret Oval Office deliberations that have launched a new war in the Middle East and seen Trump seal the border, surge National Guard troops into cities, and send immigration agents into deadly clashes with protestors. Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan bring us behind the scenes of a presidency that has transformed the culture, turned the Justice Department into an agent of retribution against the President’s enemies and the office itself into a brazen vehicle for profit. They reveal a second term propelled by a historical irony that Trump himself has come to understand: that the indictments, the convictions, the assassination attempts, and four years of exile made him not weaker but far more powerful, more vengeful, and more willing to gamble than any President in modern history.

This is the story of how Trump has used that power, who has tried to stop him, and why nearly all of them have failed. It is also the story of something American journalists are more accustomed to chronicling in distant capitals than in their own: a President who has fundamentally altered the nature of the office he holds—and, with it, how the rest of the world understands American power. It is an account of Regime Change right here in America—a landmark real-time history of a modern presidency like no other.

“Regime Change is exceptional. It transcends its genre...the book is packed with news that will stay news...This is reporting of consequence.” —David Remnick, The New Yorker

“A flabbergasting feat of political reporting.” —Tina Brown

“Riveting and richly textured...What the authors add is the vivid detail that makes these events feel actual. They wrest reality itself back from the distorted world of entertainment, illusion, fantasy and denial that Trump has generated around himself. It is this flood of provocation, atrocity, self-dealing and fabrication that makes Haberman and Swan’s counternarrative so vital.” —Fintan O’Toole, The New York Times

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Results of Operation “Hands Down” Targeting Organized Criminal Activity #OperationHandsDown

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the results of a collaborative multiagency effort targeting criminal street gangs in the Central Valley. As a direct result of this operation, investigators prevented seven violent crimes, solved two homicides, made 69 felony arrests, and seized 73 firearms, ammunition, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine.

“Through a unified front with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, we have successfully removed hazardous drugs and weapons from our streets while holding bad actors accountable,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “This strategic and focused operation dismantled organized criminal organizations and directly prevented impending acts of violence. I want to express my deepest gratitude to our dedicated DOJ agents and partner agencies for their tireless commitment to public safety. Today, we send an unmistakable message: Organized crime cannot withstand the power of rigorous, collaborative law enforcement. Because of these collective efforts, Central Valley families can live and sleep peacefully, knowing their community is that much safer."

“The collective work done by all law enforcement agencies in this operation will undoubtedly improve the safety and overall quality of life for residents in Fresno County, particularly those living in our smaller rural communities,” said Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni.

“The FBI Sacramento Field Office is committed to aggressively combating violent crime and gangs that threaten our communities,” said FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel. “We are working tirelessly with our law enforcement partners and Homeland Security Task Force to target violent gang activity connected to homicides, firearms trafficking, and drug trafficking. This operation reflects our shared commitment to identifying, investigating, and dismantling transnational criminal organizations to protect communities impacted by violence.”

In March 2026, law enforcement agencies began an investigation into a criminal street gang operating in Fresno, Tulare, and Madera Counties. The investigation found an extensive criminal conspiracy in which gang members and associates orchestrated various crimes, including drug and firearms trafficking. Sixty-nine suspects have been charged in a criminal complaint on various drug and firearms trafficking charges.

This was a joint operation with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Kingsburg Police Department, Sanger Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, California Highway Patrol, Reedley Police Department, and Selma Police Department. The case will be prosecuted by Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.

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Grand Isle, a Louisiana Seaside Oasis, is buzzing over James “Whitey” Bulger’s Confessions

James "Whitey" Bulger

Alright… here’s your summary, nice and tight—mob-style.

• Listen, in a quiet joint called Grand Isle, this big-shot hood Whitey Bulger laid low like a ghost—neighbors didn’t even know who they were dealin’ with till years later. 
• Guy lived soft—beach vibes, keepin’ his head down—while back home he’s one of the most wanted hitters in the country… real Jekyll-and-Hyde operation, capisce? 
• Now the locals? Fuggedabout it—they’re still shakin’ their heads, can’t believe a legend of the underworld was sippin’ coffee right under their noses the whole time.

If you want it even grittier—or more detailed like a full sit-down—I got you at: ‘Whitey’ Bulger’s life in a Louisiana oasis still shocks the locals.

James "Whitey" Bulger - The Last Interviews.

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Little Joe Perna, Reputed Lucchese Mafia Crime Family Member, Charged with Running Multimillion Sports Betting Ring Involving College Athletes #NewJersey #MafiaNews #Gambling

Fourteen people have been charged for their roles in a multimillion-dollar sports betting ring that was allegedly operated by a member of an organized crime family and involved college athletes, New Jersey authorities announced Thursday.

College Basketball
Wagering to Win

College Basketball: Wagering to Win.

Authorities said Joseph M. “Little Joe” Perna, a 55-year-old resident of Fairfield, N.J., and alleged member of the Lucchese crime family, ran the illegal operation. Perna was the operation’s “financier,” while his son, Joseph R. Perna, 25, conducted the sportsbook’s daily operations and facilitated dozens of subordinate agents, including his brother, Anthony Perna, 23, according to the authorities. Also among those charged were the elder Perna’s wife, Kim Zito, 53, ex-wife, Rosanna Magno, 52, and a stepson, Frank Zito, 23.

The charges include racketeering, conspiracy, promoting gambling, promoting gambling by bookmaking and money laundering.

According to the New Jersey attorney general‘s office, members of the enterprise included student-athletes, claiming that they operated sportsbooks for the Perna enterprise. Between 2022 and 2024, the enterprise transferred approximately $2 million in suspected gambling transactions.

“Despite the proliferation of legal betting of all kinds, gambling remains a mainstay of members and associates of organized crime,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in a statement. “The locations and methods may have evolved, but illegal gambling — in this case, sports betting — remains a problem, and we will charge those who seek to profit from it.”

It is unclear how many college athletes were involved, or at what schools. An NCAA spokeswoman told The Athletic that the association is aware of the charges and is looking into the matter.

In a statement to The Athletic, Anthony Iacullo, the defense attorney for Joseph R. Perna, said his client “looks forward to confronting the false allegations against him in a court of law. We look forward to analyzing the case in more detail once the facts are made available to the defense.” There was no listed representation for his father, Joseph M. Perna.

Illegal gambling has been a topic across the sports world in recent weeks.

Late last month, the NCAA, partly at the urging of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, delayed the implementation of a rule that would allow college athletes to bet on pro sports.

Last week, the NCAA declared six former Division I men’s basketball players permanently ineligible after investigations found they tried to fix games and provided information to gamblers about how they would manipulate performances and outcomes.

In MLB, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted last week on charges tied to allegedly rigging the pitches they threw in games to help conspirators win prop bets. MLB responded Monday by capping pitch-level bets at $200 and barring them from parlays under new rules made with major sportsbooks. Clase and Ortiz have pleaded not guilty.

In the NBA last month, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups were among 30 people arrested by federal investigators as part of a multiyear investigation into illegal betting activities. And the NFL recently sent a memo to all 32 of its teams detailing its restrictions on bets tied to player injuries, officiating, single-player plays — such as a kicker missing a field goal — and pre-determined outcomes.

Thanks to Bob Harkins and Ralph D. Russo.

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