It chronicles Fratianno's life from his childhood in Cleveland to becoming acting boss of the Los Angeles crime family.

Author Ovid Demaris gained the information for the book from Fratianno himself in the early 1980s, where they spent hours recording the pair's conversations.

The book begins in 1947 with Jimmy Fratianno becoming a made man in the Los Angeles crime family, then headed by Jack Dragna.

Events covered include his three prison stints, two failed marriages, numerous girlfriends, five murders, working for the Chicago Outfit, running a successful trucking company, and attempts at buying into a Las Vegas casino.

The book also mentions Roselli's alleged involvement in the John F. Kennedy assassination, but dismisses the notion that the Mafia had anything to do with the murder.