The Disposable Hero

The only memoir to tell the story of life as both a mob soldier and as an FBI informant—and live to tell the score.
 
"Three weeks into my freshman year, I came home from class to find two federal agents waiting to arrest me for racketeering, embezzlement, extortion, and conspiracy to commit murder. It was time to pay for what I’d done."

At only 18 years old, Steven Bathory faced a decision: spend the rest of his life in prison or become an undercover agent for the Department of Justice.

The Disposable Hero is the searing true story of the author's experiences as both a soldier for a well-known crime family and an undercover informant for the US Department of Justice. An unprecedented memoir that details life on both sides, The Disposable Hero takes the reader behind the scenes with a sharp and bloody firsthand account of what really happened—told by the man who lived it, barely survived it, and only found his true purpose when he lost his American dream and finally found peace in the Baha'i Faith.

For readers of Gianni Russo’s Hollywood Godfather and Joe Pistone’s classic Donnie Brasco, The Disposable Hero narrates the author's time spent as a teenage mob enforcer and then risking his life to bring down a corrupt mayor and the police department he oversaw. But it’s also about a lonely outsider in search of an identity, a father, and a family. It's about a man who gambles with his own life in order to save it.

Steven Bathory is a former associate of a well-known crime family. He worked undercover for more than a decade as a confidential informant for the Department of Justice. During that time he worked as a police officer in undisclosed locations. He is responsible for helping the DOJ arrest, subpoena, and convict more than a dozen high-ranking police officers and politicians.

In 2020, Steven was diagnosed with ALS. He lives with his wife.