Dennis
N. Griffin began his investigative career with Pinkerton’s investigator and retired as Director of Investigations for
the New York State Department of Health. In between, he served as a Senior Child
Support Investigator and deputy sheriff for the Madison County Sheriff’s Office (New York). Dennis Griffin has been living and writing in Las Vegas since 1996, publishing six novels and two nonfiction
books about Las Vegas law enforcement.
According
to Dennis Griffin, “I started writing in 1996 to tell the story of what I learned while investigating the operation
of a medical examiner's office. It was an eye-opening experience for me and I felt compelled to share it with others. I eventually
produced a fictionalized account called The
Morgue. I found to my chagrin that readers didn't believe anything in the book could actually happen, but they liked
the story and my style; rough edges and all. That response caused me to write Red Gold, also based on personal experience. I now have a total of six fictions in print.
In January
2002, I decided to try my hand at non-ficton and began writing Policing Las Vegas. This book covers the history of law enforcement in Las Vegas and Clark County from 1905
thru 2004. Policing was released in April 2005.
My second
non-fiction, The Battle for Las Vegas,
is the story of the Vegas reign of Chicago mob enforcer Tony Spilotro. In the movie Casino, actor Joe Pesci played a character
based on Spilotro. Battle was released nationally on July 1, 2006. My third Vegas-based
non-fiction, CULLOTTA - The Life of a Chicago
Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness was released nationally in July 2007.”
According
to the book description of Cullotta: The Life
of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness, “From burglary to armed robbery and murder,
infamous bad guy Frank Cullotta not only did it all, in Cullotta he admits to it -- and in graphic detail. This no-holds-barred
biography chronicles the life of a career criminal who started out as a thug on the streets of Chicago and became a trusted
lieutenant in Tony Spilotro's gang of organized lawbreakers in Las Vegas. Cullotta's was a world of high-profile heists, street
muscle, and information -- lots of it -- about many of the FBI's most wanted. In the end, that information was his ticket
out of crime, as he turned government witness and became one of a handful of mob insiders to enter the Witness Protection
Program.”
Publishers
Weekly said of Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago
Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness, “Mystery and nonfiction writer Griffin covered the Vegas
reign of kingpin Tony the Ant Spilotro in The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. the Mob. Digging deeper into mob history,
he now focuses on Spilotro's lifelong pal, career criminal Cullotta, who appeared in Martin Scorsese's 1995 film, Casino,
recreating an actual murder he committed in 1979. Spilotro and Cullotta met in Chicago as teenage troublemakers, and early
chapters detail the violent escapades of Cullotta's youth before he escalated to major crimes. Spilotro rose in the ranks
of the mob and became the Chicago Outfit's man in Las Vegas, and Cullotta eventually joined him, running a robbery and murder
crew. Together, Spilotro and Cullotta extorted illegal bookmakers and drug dealers throughout Vegas. But in the early 1980s,
Cullotta became a government witness, bringing down the house. In addition to poring through newspaper archives, Griffin interviewed
various sheriffs, attorneys, agents and detectives, while primarily relying on information from retired FBI agent Arnoldy
and what Pileggi calls the phenomenal memory of Cullotta himself. Griffin's flat, unemotional yet potent writing makes the
bloodletting, murders and mayhem chilling and unnerving throughout.”
