Author Matt Birkbeck to Sign Copies of 'The Quiet Don'

Journalist and author Matt Birkbeck will sign copies of his new book, "The Quiet Don" at Barnes & Noble at the Lehigh Valley Mall, beginning at 7 p.m. Friday.

"The Quiet Don" tells the story of reputed Northeastern Pennsylvania mob boss Russell Bufalino and tracks his alleged involvement in Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance in 1975, the CIA’s recruitment of gangsters to assassinate Fidel Castro, and the making of The Godfather movie, according to a release.

Bufalino, who resided in the Wyoming Valley, quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency, the release said, and his reach extended beyond Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.

In his book, Birkbeck, a former reporter with The Morning Call, explores the birth of Pennsylvania's gambling industry and Bufalino's ties to a man awarded one of the state's precious gaming licenses.