They called him the "Teflon Don." But in his short reign as the head of the Gambino crime family, John Gotti wracked up a lifetime of charges from gambling, extortion, and tax evasion to racketeering, conspiracy, and five convictions of murder. He didn't do it alone. Surrounding himself with a rogues gallery of contract killers, fixers, and enforcers, he built one of the richest, most powerful crime empires in modern history. Who were these men? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano takes you inside Gotti's inner circle to reveal the dark hearts and violent deeds of the most remorseless and cold-blooded characters in organized crime. Men so vicious even the other Mafia families were terrified of them. Meet Gotti's Boys . . .

* Charles Carneglia: the ruthless junkyard dog who allegedly disposed of bodies for the mob--by dissolving them in acid then displaying their jewels.

* Gene Gotti: the younger Gotti brother who ran a multimillion-dollar drug smuggling ring--enraging his bosses in the Gambino family.

* Angelo "Quack-Quack" Ruggiero: the loose-lipped contract killer who was wire-tapped by the FBI--and dared to insult Gotti behind his back.

* Tony "Roach" Rampino: the hardcore stoner who looked like a cockroach--and used his gangly arms and horror-mask face to frighten his enemies.

* "Sammy the Bull" Gravano: the Gambino underboss who helped John Gotti execute Gambino mob boss Paul Castellano--then sang like a canary to take Gotti down.

Rounding out this nefarious group were the likes of Frank DeCicco, Vincent Artuso, and Joe "The German" Watts, a man who wasn't a Mafiosi but had all of the power and prestige of one in John Gotti's slaughterhouse crew. Gotti's Boys is a killer line-up of the crime-hardened mob soldiers who killed at their ruthless leader's merciless bidding--brought to vivid life by the prize-winning chronicler of the American mob.