Real Life examples of Mob War?

The novel I'm writing has a Mob War plot/subplot, and I'm desperately in need of Real Life examples for research and inspiration. Any and all help is appreciated.

edited 16th Aug '13 6:18:04 PM by poi99

I've moved this thread to the section reserved for writers looking for help/inspiration from each other.

^Thanks.

The Zetas have had some really interesting fights with the other cartels in the last couple of years.

In Japan, the yakuzas do this with other rival gangs or foreign gangs trying to move in on their turf or kill off one of their own.

I think the OP is looking for specific examples.

Anyhow, a good resource on the Italian mob is Underboss by Peter Maas; it details the life story of Sammy Gravano, the man who was instrumental in putting John Gotti behind bars. I'm not sure its factually accurate on every point but it does give a reader the "flavor" of mob life.

Try researching The Mafiya, namely their activities in Russia itself during 1990s. It involved a lot of mob wars. Lawful citizens from many of the less savory neighborhoods got used to hear gunshots every other day.

edited 24th Aug '13 8:35:47 AM by aurora369

Underbelly was realistic enough to be banned where the ongoing trial was conducted out of fear of influencing the jury. It centered on the Melbourne gangland war, the fall of Alphonse Gangitano and the feud between Carl Williams and Jason Moran. The sequels and off shoots go into the Calabrian mafia and Terry Clark and Bob Trimbolie, the Griffith drug trade and police corruption, then King's Cross which makes Saints Row look realistic, going undercover on the Calabrians and the Silk Miller murders, and before Capone there was The Roaring '20s and Squizzy Taylor. So you have a good glut of periods and stories to look at, everything from the Fine Cotton horse racing scandal to the reaction of bikies killing a witness and the Auskick murder are covered.

If I were you I would if you wanted serious research rather than a cracker of a TV show I would be looking at the novels the series is based on, Leadbelly, I Mick Gatto, the books of the show. They give details of the mob wars that the series does not and some of them have the actual people involved as well as the actors so you can compare Stuart Bateson to Steve Owen, Mick Gatto and Graham Kinibough to Simon Westerlay and Gerard Kennedy.

edited 27th Aug '13 12:49:18 AM by tsstevens

Thanks, guys!