After eschewing the term "mafia" to label Russian organized crime activity:

My preference is to avoid using the word `mafia' altogether because it simply failed to do what language is meant to do: communicate specific meanings through words... the word `mafia' in the former Soviet Union represented a phenomenon far broader and more diverse than that understood in the West, and, ultimately, is meaningless.

...Serio must relent. The book title employs the term, and he throws the word about throughout the book, repeatedly bemoaning its inaccuracy. It's kind of like that old knife in the kitchen drawer you have been meaning to throw away for years, because it's so ugly. But you can't bring yourself to do it, because no other knife in your arsenal cuts a tomato as well.

The fact is, as Serio points out, Russia does not have, nor has it ever had a mafia, in the sense of a monolithic, centralized clan structure that pulls the levers of society. It has had many criminal groups, many of which could be labeled mafia-esque, be it in their modus operandi, attire or affectation; it has had a mafia-like government; it has had a legal and societal structure that encourages nothing so much as thievery and duplicity. But using the word and the idea we associate with mafia clouds the real picture, and that is that modern Russian crime "sprang forth from the fabric of Russian society and culture, the environment of survival." As Serio quotes the Russian head of Interpol, Yuri Melnikov: "I don't know what the fuss in the West is about the Russian `mafia.' We've always been this way. It's just that you're finally fining out."

Serio was present at the creation, embedded in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the early 1990s as a liaison with U.S. law enforcement bodies. And this book, meant to be an introduction for businessmen and criminal justice types, bears the fruit of that experience, peppered as it is with fascinating first-hand anecdotes from the undersides of countless Russian rocks. This book should be required reading for anyone spending any time in Russia - certainly journalists and business people posted there, and students as well. Aside from the well-documented account of the lawless 1990s, it offers a rich history of Russian criminal life, from the times of Ivan the Terrible through to the Vory v zakone. (Reviewed in Russian Life)

The Russian Mob is second perhaps only to the Italian mob in notoriety. "Investigating the Russian Mafia: An Introduction for Students, Law Enforcement, and International Business" is a guide using the Russian mafia as a model for study of a criminal organization. Joe Serio is a man with much experience in Russia and has served in its law enforcement prior to the fall of the Soviet Union. His study is excellent material for anyone looking to best understand the world of organized crime. "Investigating the Russian Mafia" is informative and educational reading, highly recommended for community library and college library Criminology collections.

This review is not going to be long and drawn out. Quite simply this is the best book I have read dealing with the Russian mafia. It deals very extensively with Mr. Serio's experiences in the former Soviet Union. The only thing better then reading this book would be to take one of his classes or attend one of his lectures. Either way, this is a must for anyone wanting to take a look into the rising global power that is the Russian mafia. Enjoy, and buy two copies! It makes a great gift if you've got organized crime investigators as friends.

WHAT IF SCENARIOS

Joseph Serio is no neophyte when it comes to the obfuscation of Soviet and Russian crime and justice statistics. His internship tenure at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and his earlier book, USSR Crime Statistics and Summaries: 1989 and 1990, (OICJ Press, 1992) provide critical insights into the processes of compiling, replication and analysis of crime statistics by the Communist and post-Communist governments. It is clear that the central dilemma of what we know - or think we know - about the Russian mafia is intimately connected to the business of the production and consumption of information (impression management). This book is not your standard remuneration of comparative statistics and turgid didactic of comparative crime. Rather, it launches into a cognitive challenge at deciphering historical demographics, national character, culture, mores and, importantly, how to create what if scenarios in the quest of defining and better understanding both the Western purview and the Russian mafia of today. This book is one of the finest examples of contextualizing the content and embodiment of Russian Mafia available. It belongs on the desk of every dedicated analyst, researcher, and critical essayist studying the gut and underbelly of organized crime in the context of our post-modern times.

Jess Maghan, PhD
Chester, CT