My review contains spoilers about this non-fiction title. BEWARE.I read this book for two reasons: The first is because I'm always drawn to mafia-related tales, especially true ones, and secondly, since Martin Scorsese is turning it into a Netflix film with Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino all starring in the three main roles.The story of Frank Sheeran is an interesting, dark, and sometimes brutal thing. This man killed everything from Nazis to gangsters, and in large quantities. The book starts with a riveting chapter that sets Frank up the night before Jimmy Hoffa is killed. It had me thinking that Frank knew who did it, but had nothing to do with the actual murder, and boy was I wrong.The book cuts away from Hoffa's murder, and takes us into Frank's childhood, and then into his 411 days of combat service during World War II. The days Frank learned how to carry out the order to murder without hesitation, and the days where Frank learned how to outlive everyone around him. I found Frank's tour of duty to be some of the most thought-provoking stuff, but I can understand why it was hard for him to discuss, especially since he was in combat for longer than the majority of humans ever in war.There's a lot of Teamsters Union talk, and while some of it would boil down to violence, it was mostly just a bunch of names being thrown around, and elections of local unions being discussed. These parts of the book are probably the least interesting, but Frank Sheeran loved The Teamsters, and was a proud member. It was probably the thing he was most proud of in his entire life.Hoffa's trials against Bobby Kennedy take up a large portion of the book, but Frank didn't have much of a perspective other than repeating some of Jimmy Hoffa's quotes from that time. It's a shame we'll never get to read a new book with interviews from Jimmy on this subject. His rivalry with Bobby Kennedy was an epic American tale in itself.Things started to get truly griping around the time Jimmy Hoffa went to "school", as Frank Sheeran referred to prison. Hoffa's hatred for being inside, and how he lost his grip on The Teamsters, which eventually led to him losing his grip on reality setup the climax, as Frank finally returned to his story from the start of the book. Frank made it to Detroit the day Jimmy Hoffa was killed...I think I was pulling for Frank more before I knew about him being in on Jimmy Hoffa's death, despite knowing he'd killed dozens of other people. Something about killing the man he claims to have respected so much, and been such close friends with, makes it hard to relate to the man. You always hear things about the mafia sending your closest friend to whack you, and in Frank's version of the Hoffa hit, that's how it went down.Frank mentioned Giants' Stadium, which was a place you'd always hear rumored to be Hoffa's burial ground when you grew up a Giants fan. He squashed that rumor, like a few others over the years, but the details of Jimmy Hoffa's last moments were a lot less extravagant. There's stuff to be taken away from those moments, but "I Heard You Paint Houses" really left an impression on me concerning Russell Buffalino.You hear a lot of old gangster names thrown around over the years, but I don't think I've ever had a conversation with a person that involved them dropping Russell Buffalino's name. According to the book, he was the closest living representation of Vito Corleone from "The Godfather", and Russell had final say on "The Godfather" film's script all the way back in the 70's. Another tidbit from this book about Godfather, Al Martino, who plays Johnny Fontane in the film, was actually the basis for the character, and not Frank Sinatra. Not only that, but Francis Ford Coppola didn't want Al Martino for the role, but Russell Buffalino made some calls, and it was so.Frank Sheeran went out by starving himself to death in a nursing home. Robert De Niro is going to be playing him in the movie, and while I hear there's going to be a lot of de-aging going on, I honestly think this flick would've worked better as a Marty/Leo team-up, but what do I know?Charles Brandt goes on to talk about how his book was well received, and most of Frank's tales were proven true, despite common beliefs before the book was published in the early 2000's (I.E.: Crazy Joey Gallo hit). Apparently, he even became friends with the actual "Donnie Brasco", and they have worked together on other stuff.If you're interested in the true crimes of the American Mafia than "I Heard You Paint Houses" is the exact book you need to add to your reading list. Frank Sheeran interacted with everyone who was anyone during the beginning of the end of "This Thing of Ours", and all as an outsider, so it's a rare perspective.VERDICT: READ