I’ve heard whispers about the life and crimes of Winter Hill's Joe McDonald (1917-1997) for years, though he appears only fleetingly in true crime books and documentaries. Not much is known about him; he was at once a mercurial and an ominous figure in the bizarre society that was the Boston underworld. 

    It's time his story was told. On January 8, 2026, it will be. 

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Don't Talk About Joe Mac (Bloomsbury) 

The Life, Wars, and Secret History of the Man Behind the Winter Hill Gang

PRE-ORDER NOW, AT AMAZON!    

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“Brutal, masterfully written, unrelenting in its excavation of fresh information, and with startling disclosures, this book may be the best portrait of a certain type of twentieth century American street mobster ever to appear in print. Get this book now.”

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―T.J. English, New York Times bestselling author of The Westies, Havana Nocturne, and Where the Bodies Were Buried  

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"Don't Talk About Joe Mac may well be the last of the great Boston Mob books. Springs Toledo delivers the whole package on the enigmatic Winter Hill boss—fine writing, familial insights from his daughter and many memorable stories. And he solves the mystery of the 1992 disappearance of Jimmy Sims, Joe Mac's partner in crime. A must-read for all Boston OC aficionados!"

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—Howie Carr, New England’s undisputed talk radio king, New York Times best-selling author of The Brothers Bulger and Hitman, and columnist for the Boston Herald

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“Springs Toledo has crafted a masterpiece—a window into the machinations of Boston’s gangster class, a window revealing treachery, bloody betrayals, murders, and “disappearances.”  At its center is Joe McDonald, a prolific killer and master of disguise whose deadly business is unheralded—by choice. His sources are outright amazing. If the opening doesn’t grab you, check to see if you have a pulse.  In 40 years of reporting true crime, organized and otherwise, never have I read a book like this.”  

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—Ron Gollobin, Pulitzer-nominated investigative journalist, five-time Emmy award-winning investigative reporter, and crime reporter at WCVB-TV (Boston), 1975-1999

 

“I always avidly await another book by Springs Toledo. I can count on him to explore dark and dangerous places, and trust that his heart and humanity will make it a trip worth taking. Don't Talk About Joe Mac is beautiful—the way a perfectly thrown left hook is beautiful.”

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―Eddie Muller, “The Czar of Noir,” TCM's host of Noir Alley TV series, founder and president of The Film Noir Foundation, and producer and host of Noir City: The San Francisco Film Noir Festival

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"Springs Toledo's research would have been invaluable in our murder investigation of Roger Wheeler in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1981; his information is so detailed and complete it is obvious he had inside sources."

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—Mike Huff, former Detective Sergeant, Tulsa Homicide Unit, and lead detective on the decades-long World Jai Alai investigation