Sonny

I’ll admit, I’ve listened to my share of Mafia audiobooks, but *Sonny* hit differently—like eavesdropping on a confession from a man who’d never actually confess. Peddie’s writing is surgical, avoiding the trap of myth-making to instead expose Franzese as a calculating hypocrite. The chapter on his loansharking operation, where he’d cripple small businesses while playing the aggrieved creditor, had me pausing to rewind in disbelief. That said, the book’s middle act drags slightly during the legal procedural sections; Peddie’s meticulousness with court transcripts occasionally saps momentum, though the payoff—a chilling look at how Franzese manipulated the system—is worth it. Tanya Eby’s performance is the audiobook’s secret weapon. She doesn’t *act* so much as *channel*—her delivery of Franzese’s quotes carries the weight of a man who genuinely believed his own lies. I especially loved how she handled the interviews with his family: warm but never sentimental, letting the cognitive dissonance speak for itself. My one critique? The sound mixing occasionally makes the archival audio clips (used sparingly) feel jarringly loud compared to Eby’s narration. Still, this is a standout in the genre—less *Goodfellas* glamour, more *The Sopranos*’ unsettling domesticity. If you’re tired of true crime that sensationalizes villains, *Sonny* offers something rarer: a villain who’s terrifyingly ordinary.