The King of Con: How a Smooth-Talking Jersey Boy Made and Lost Billions, Baffled the FBI, Eluded the Mob, and Lived to Tell the

Description

A Jersey boy with a knack for numbers, a gift for making people trust him, and an all-consuming hunger to be king of the business world, Tom Giacomaro could convince anyone of anything. As a teenager, Tom Giacomaro began working in the mob-laden New Jersey trucking industry. A charming, brash-talking salesman, he climbed the ranks, and let his lust for money and relationships with New York and Philadelphia crime families send him spiraling into a world of drugs and violence. Forced to go on the lam in South Africa and Europe he returned a year later, with millions of dollars worth of diamonds stuffed in his underwear. And that's only the beginning. In his memoir, Tom details how he eventually hashed out a deal with the FBI, agreeing to become a special crime informant to avoid jail time, only he somehow manages not to rat anyone out and, incredibly, continues his high-finance, shady dealings, luring celebrities and other high-profile contacts to invest millions in his new business ventures. When it all inevitably comes crashing down, Tom is thrown in prison for over a decade, yet, even behind bars, he's able to get what he wants from anyone: the warden, the doctors, the guards, and his fellow inmates . . . and finds a way to get released early. is the true story about a smart, streetwise Jersey boy who talked his way to the top and became richer and more successful than his wildest dreams. It offers an unforgettable look into the life of a man who became hooked on living life to thrilling and dangerous excess, rubbing elbows with celebrities and crime bosses, until he was humbled by the FBI, by the US Attorney, and by life itself. Now, Tom is back in his old New Jersey neighborhood. His mob cronies are calling, his palms are itching to make billions again, and the US Attorney's office is watching. Will he stay on the straight and narrow, or will he return to his old ways and steal back his crown of crime as the King of Con?

Thomas Giacomaro was the owner and president of dozens of million-dollar companies, as well as M&A consulting firms that acquired, consolidated, and sold privately held companies in the fuel, energy, trucking, transportation, commercial and residential, recycling, and waste industries. Sporting a genius-level IQ and a near-perfect score on his college boards, he attended and graduated from William Paterson University with a degree in Business Administration. Natasha Stoynoff is a two-time New York Times bestselling author with 13 books to her credit. She graduated with a BA in English from York University in Toronto and studied journalism at Ryerson University. She began her career as a newspaper reporter/photographer for The Toronto Star and columnist/feature writer for The Toronto Sun. After working freelance for TIME magazine, she became a staff writer at People for more than a decade. She lives in Manhattan, where she writes books and screenplays.

"The King of Con is for real and his story reveals how big money, big business, and the mob really work. Required reading." -Nicholas Pileggi, author and screenwriter of Goodfellas and Casino "Tom Giacomaro is a master manipulator and natural-born crime boss you'll love to hate and hate to love. His life story is a roller coaster ride of high finance, underworld intrigue, and dazzling riches that will leave you exhilarated, exhausted, and wanting more." -Nina Burleigh, New York Times bestselling author of The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Trials of Amanda Knox and national political correspondent for Newsweek