Giovanni’s Ring: My Life Inside the Real Sopranos

Authors Rocco and Schofield team up with narrator Joe Barrett to create a treat for fans of The Sopranos. Undercover FBI agent Giovanni Rocco relates his adventures getting close to the New Jersey DeCavalcante family, the family widely believed to be the model for the hit television show. With outstanding characterizations, Barrett displays the skills that won him a 2013 Audie Award and 14 Earphones awards from AudioFile magazine. Barrett’s character voices are so realistic—including his chilling personification of Rocco’s stern street demeanor—that one would have to peruse his bio to be certain that he is not Italian. Rocco’s three-year investigation, in which he took down 10 mobsters, describes how he built relationships with unscrupulous, but still human characters. He had to walk a thin line to keep himself alive and undercover, while also moving up in the organization. At the same time, he walked another line to keep his personal and professional lives separate and functional.