I just read Mob Boss again for the second time. What is so weird to me was already touched on above.

Did it seem strange to D'arco that he was made capo of a successful crew? Forget acting boss. How did he even accept being a capo without it raising red flags?? He didn't mention that in the book.

He must have been very gullible like someone wrote above. This is a guy who was made at 50 years old. He was not a very good earner. He didn't really do killings. He seemed to work for other people and jumped around from scam to scam most of his career. He wasn't aligned with anyone that successful. He seemed to know everyone, but he mostly worked for semi-washed up old-timers. So he should've realized that he didn't deserve to be a capo OR an acting boss.

I think Casso and Amuso put him as the Capo because they wanted someone they could control. They picked someone without a lot of power so they wouldn't be threatened. As someone else said above, there were several powerful soldiers in that crew like Manzo and Facciola. And it speaks a lot about of Amuso & Casso's poor leadership - they were threatened by anyone with power and money.

Anyway... I still think it's a great book. Mostly BECAUSE it's a book about a normal wiseguy who eked out a living in the 60's to 80's, not a hugely successful guy. Normally he never would've become a captain. And would his son ever have been made? They knew he was a junkie before they even made him...