You Thought It Was More
New Adventures of the World’s Greatest Counterfeiter
Available At Your Local Indie Bookstore
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
About YOU THOUGHT IT WAS MORE: New Adventures of the World’s Greatest Counterfeiter
Thibault knows the ins and outs of the New England Mob as well as anyone, and it shows in this must-read true crime book.
Larry Henry
Senior reporter at Gambling.com, ‘The Mob in Pop Culture’ columnist for The Mob Museum in Las Vegas
Louis the Coin, though not a made man, was considered such a great talent he was part of the inner circle of the Providence Office.
Joe Broadmeadow
Captain (Retired), East Providence, RI PD
“So much sets this book apart – the extraordinary tales it tells, its insider’s look at organized crime and Louis Colavecchio's enormous affection for his characters. But the biggest surprise? I was held in total suspense by the technical sections. I never expected to be riveted by metallurgy . . . but I was.”
Novelist Pam Lewis
Author of “Speak Softly, She Can Hear” and “Perfect Family”
Louis the Coin was an uncannily talented machinist with an appetite for crime. Thibault takes readers along on Louie’s wild ride – from Connecticut’s tribal casinos to Atlantic City and Vegas – and reveals how the man’s ego and connections got him busted.
Karen Florin
Managing Editor, The Day of New London
“Louis the Coin was the wisest of the wise guys, an inventive manufacturer and casino counterfeiting legend who took pride in outsmarting everyone in his path, especially the authorities. His gaming chips and coins were so good the only thing that could bring him down was his own greed. No wonder mobsters loved him. He's the stuff of movies. His story and this book inspired me to write the feature film screenplay, ‘COIN MAN.’ ”
Jack Chaucer
, Screenwriter and novelist, author of the four-book Nikki Janicek series
Ka-Ching! A BIG WIN. Louis the Coin figured out a way to make slot machines pay off, really pay off, to the tune of several million dollars. Much of that went into the coffers of the Patriarca Crime Family, which punched far above its weight as the crime family from the smallest state in the union. Louis, with his co-authors Andy Thibault and Frank Douskey, tell his compelling story well and weave it in to a history of the ruthless world of Rhode Island organized crime. This is a world of violence and greed that ensnares public officials and law enforcement and rivals the old world protestants for power in the Ocean State. Buy it.
Richard Esposito
Investigative reporter and former Deputy Police Commissioner, NYPD
The Rhode Island mob and the eponymous Patriarca Family have had many chroniclers but none has captured it better than Andy Thibault in the Louis the Coin memoir. Throw in a heavy mix of Goodfellas and you have a book that will take it's rightful place in mob lore.
Atty. J. Bruce Maffeo
New York white collar criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor for the Organized Crime Strike Force, Eastern District of New York.
Remarkably crafted. Who would have thought Louis the Coin could be a vivid storyteller? He writes with commanding vigor. Reminiscent of ‘Honor Thy Father,’ the gracious portrait of the Bonanno crime family by Gay Talese.”
James H. Smith
A New England journalist for nearly 40 years and author of “A Passion for Journalism”
The whole idea behind it was to be like a tax collector...
Louis the Coin Poem
Louis the Coin’s hydroponic garden of weed
85 Seconds with Louis the Coin & Friends
Gary Jenkins’ Gangland Wire Mafia Podcast with Jerry Longo, Andy Thibault
Jerry misses Louis...
King Louis de la Provvidenza...
About Louis the Coin’s priest brother
"Andy Thibault is one of the foremost experts on Connecticut and New England mob history and a veteran journalist with a gift for gritty, witty and thoroughly hard boiled descriptions. In You Thought It Was More he partners with one of history's most colorful criminals for a firsthand account of New England's criminal underworld. Forget The Sopranos if you want a front row seat to the real criminal underworld, in all its quirky glory and tragic violence, get this book. You won't be able to stop reading!"
Erik Ofgang
Co-author of "The Good Vices"
Louis ‘The Coin’ Colavecchio won a name for himself by being able to make anything, and now he has made a profane and raucously funny memoir of his life of crime. This is a world of hot cars, hot jewels, hot women, a wad of cash in your pocket and a handmade silencer on your Ruger automatic pistol. Bookies and loan sharks, enforcers and counterfeiters, con men and scam artists: You Thought It Was More evokes a bygone era, treating us to a wise-guy crime romance that's part Law & Order, part Guys & Dolls.”
Rand Richards Cooper
Author of “Big as Life,”is an essayist, and restaurant critic for the New York Times
“Louis came up with a brilliant plan. We The Cops did, too. I do not condone his criminal behavior, but I understand it; he was very creative, an artist. I assisted in some small way with him going to jail and he served his time ... After spending time together after the case closed, we have developed a friendship. That’s OK with me. I am no longer a trooper, having retired in 2003. He’s retired, too, right?”
Jerry Longo
CT State Police Det. Sgt. (Retired) , Jerry Longo, now a senior investigator for a major casino
“You Thought it Was More is not – thankfully – literary. It is, however, a tale told in a voice that rings true, very much in the aesthetic tradition of our best oral histories. Louis ‘The Coin’ Colavecchio would probably be right at home in a Studs Terkel book."
Poet Jon Andersen
Professor Of English, Quinebaug Valley Community College, and author of “Stomp And Sing”
“First off, how can you not love a book written by someone named Louis the Coin? It’s worth reading just to enjoy the names of the wiseguys! This is a must-read for anyone who loved Goodfellas, Casino and Bronx Tale! Louis took me so far into the Providence Mob that I thought I was a snitch! I’m still looking over my shoulder!”
Mickey Sherman
Criminal defense lawyer and author of ‘How Can You Defend Those People?’
“It is fortunate … that he lived to tell the tale … Louis The Coin offers the novice the genuine article …”
Lionel Bascom
Professor of Writing at Western Connecticut State University and author of ‘Rubouts’ (Avon 1991) and ‘A Renaissance in Harlem: The Voices of a Lost American Community’ (HarperTrade, 2001)
“Louis has nailed Rhode Island In The 1960s and 70s: Raymond, National Vending, the wise guys, the cars, the cash-carrying habits of certain individuals, travel tips in Italy and more.”
Ed Dunn
Retired newspaper editor, USA Today and The Norwich Bulletin
“Riveting! Raises the bar for all future storytellers in this genre of wise guys and their adventures.”
Bruce Baron
New York trial attorney, media commentator on outlets including MSNBC and Fox News
“This tale gives you an unblinking look straight into the criminal mind.”
Novelist Denning Powell
Author of “Monkey Trap” and “Hiding Hand”
YOU THOUGHT IT WAS MORE…New Adventures of the World’s Greatest Counterfeiter LOUIS THE COIN, AKA Louis Colavecchio
By LOUIS COLAVECCHIO, With FRANZ DOUSKEY and ANDY THIBAULT
FEATURING
A History of Organized Crime in Rhode Island
By JOE BROADMEADOW