Great

Slow start but it picked up. Good for a fan. ( )

Boken handlar om Salvatore Guiliano och hans liv som bandit. Samtidigt får vi följa Michael Corleones sista veckor i Sicilien, och hur han försöker att komma tillbaka med Salvatore Guiliano, då hans far har bett om detta.

The second installment in Mario Puzo's Godfather series is titled The Sicilian. The novel is set in Sicily, Italy, where we follow the exploits of the bandit Turi Guiliano, a deliberate misspelling of the real Salvatore Giuliano, an Italian bandit who lived in the first half of the 20th century. It is connected to the first part of the Godfather series through Michael Corleone, son of the Godfather Don Vito Corleone. Michael plans his return to America from his exile in Sicily and he is to help escape Turi Guiliano to America.

The story begins when Turi and his friend Aspanu Pisciotta are stopped by the Italian police while smuggling food. One thing leads to another and Turi is shot by a police officer whom he kills in return. When the police try to arrest Turi in his home later on, he flees to the mountains with Aspanu to become a bandit and swears to help the poor people of Sicily, becoming an Italian version of Robin Hood. Guiliano soon rises to power and his group of bandits becomes ever larger, stealing from the rich, giving to the poor and always keeping a little for themselves. This draws the ire of mafia boss Don Croce Malo who first tries to team up with Guiliano, but changes his plan when Turi refuses his offer.

I liked the novel for its storyline as well as its characters, some of whom are based on real life characters. The different events in Turi Guiliano's life made for an interesting read that kept me wanting to learn about his fate. 4 stars. ( )

The Sicilian is the natural successor to Mario Puzo’s outstanding novel The Godfather. It includes a smattering of characters from the original story in particular Michael Corleone in exile until his father Don Corleone deems it safe for his return. In the meantime he is to prepare the way for resident bad boy Salvatore Giuliano to be smuggled out of Sicily and given safe passage to New York. Giuliano is involved in a turf war with local Capo Don Croce and events are fast approaching a bloody conclusion. The Sicilian is not a bad book, it contains all the ingredients that make for a good “mob” read. The usual elements of family loyalty, honour, explosive action, duplicity, treachery are all here. However, in the final analysis, it is nowhere near as entertaining or captivating as its predecessor but useful for an account of Michael's years in exile. ( )