Covert

In a riveting page-turner, NBA referee Bob Delaney reveals the clandestine life he led before becoming one of professional basketball's most respected referees. In 1975, whilst working as a New Jersey State Trooper, Delaney was approached with a tantalising yet dangerous undercover assignment: to infiltrate the Mob. He accepted. At the height of The Godfather era, Delaney wore a wire and lived among wise-guys who modelled themselves on their on-screen counterparts, quoting lines from 'The Movie' and boasting of how often they'd seen it. Delaney knew that all the while a single slip could get him killed, but he ultimately gathered enough evidence to convict 30 members of the Bruno and Genovese crime families. He struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and traces of Stockholm syndrome after getting too close to those he investigated, which therapy helped him overcome. Once a college basketball star, Delaney began officiating high school games as a way to rebuild his life - eventually working his way up to the NBA, where he has been a referee for more than two decades. This is his amazing true story, with a foreword by NBA commentator Bill Walton.