I was about 30 when Hoffa was killed, early in my sales career, married a few years, father of a two year old, moving from an apartment in Linden, NJ, to our first house. My hands were full. I managed to watch a few minutes of news some nights, and I scanned the headlines most days. But I still remember the sensational stories triggered by Hoffa’s sudden “disappearance”. It was the story of the day for days and days. I can recall the biggest question of the moment was not “who dunnit?” but rather “where’s Hoffa?” As I recall at one point years later there was considerable speculation about a new pro football field which many then thought doubled as a cemetery for one. Through the years, many in my generation marveled at how tightly kept the secrets surrounding the event and background were kept, notwithstanding occasional flares of new, revived interest, usually generated by a connected tip.

So I was easily hooked when I first heard of Goldsmith’s book. While it was evident from the lack of pre-pub headlines that there would be no big secrets revealed, I was still hopeful that there would be some pearls here and there.

There weren’t. Not for me anyway.

In essence, major chunk’s of “In Hoffa’s Shadow” focus on Chuckie O’Brien, a young guy whom Hoffa informally adopted and then recruited to serve as a sort of glorified gopher (and there are hints sans details that Chuckie also served as muscle on a few occasions.) Chuckie also married the author’s mom at one point, so he was also stepdad to the author. Chuckie and author were not always close. But the real big deal about Chuckie is that it had been long rumored that he drove Hoffa to his final meet; the FBI based their years long investigations of Chuckie on Chuckie’s role in the events of the last day.

There’s also lots of family relationship stuff, Kennedy-Hoffa hearing stuff, my “uncle” was a mobster stuff, and how Hoffa gained control of the Teamsters stuff. None of which particularly excited me. I will admit to a big aha for me though. Toward the end of the book, there is an interview/meeting of Chuckie with a States Atty. Who currently is a major contributor to a cable news channel that I watch and who does not come off so good in this book. But otherwise the “story” here didn’t thrill me. I was surprised to read other readers’ reviews commenting “couldn’t put it down”. I never had that problem. In fairness to the author though, read the “Editorial Reviews” clips on the Amazon page before deciding whether to read this. BTW, Chuckie died last month, Feb 2020, of natural causes; he was about 90. ( )

I have been a proud union member, for over 30 years and I was sixteen, when Hoffa disappeared, so I do remember that event, but I really never knew Hoffa's full story. With the film, The Irishman being recently released, along with this well-researched account, it gave me the perfect opportunity, to learn about this powerful union leader and what led up to his demise.
What also makes, this book special is that the author, a prominent lawyer and former government official, has a strong connection to this story. His step-father, Chuckie O' Neal, was Hoffa's right hand man for many years and was also arrested for his suspected involvement with Hoffa's disappearance, which destroyed Chuckie's life, despite his likely, innocence.
The author packs a lot into this book, and we get historical snapshots, of the FBI, Hoover, RFK, the teamsters, the mob and the sinister world of surveillance. Solid nonfiction. ( )