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Loading... Omerta (original 2000; edition 2001)by Mario Puzo
Work InformationOmerta by Mario Puzo (2000)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I liked it. A solid 3 1/2 star read. Nothing fancy but kept me wanting to pick it back up. ( ) Mario Puzo's Omertà is the third installment in his Godfather-series. The novel's main story is set in New York City while the backstory is set in Sicily. Raymonde Aprile, a New York Don, retires from his active business to live the rest of his life enjoying his family and the wealth and influence he has attained over the years. However, he is assassinated by a hit squad hired by another Don who has set his eyes on the banks Don Aprile still controls. 49% of the Don's banks go to his three children and the controlling majority of 51% go to Astorre Viola, whom the Don adopted when Astorre was still a child. The Don's last wish was for Astorre never to sell the banks and Astorre does exactly that. In the process he is hunted by a conglomerate gathered around the last remaining New York Don that wants to use the banks for laundering drug money and establishing a bigger cartel. Another party involved is Kurt Cilke, an FBI agent, who tries to bring down the New York mafia for good. A story of intrigue and double crossing unfolds. At the same time, the reader learns about Astorre Viola's background and how he came to be adopted by Don Raymonde Aprile. Viola is trained in Sicily for the task to succeed Don Aprile, learning what it takes to be the head of his own cosca, that is his own clan. I have to say that I really enjoyed Omertà and even liked it better than the two previous novels in the series. The parts that reveal the background and training of Astorre Viola are fascinating to read and make the overall story so much richer. The main plot with the fight about dominance in the New York mafia was gripping and made me turn the pages in a breeze. Omertà was published post-humously and criticized by some as Puzo's worst work. Personally, I have to disagree, but then again my reading is often influenced by my current surroundings, my mood and how a particular story clicks with me at a particular point in my life. When I read the novel I was looking for an entertaining story that helped me escape the huge amount of work I recently had and Omertà managed not to do just that, but also to positively surprise me. 5 stars for a highly enjoyable read. Having absorbed The Godfather a couple of years ago, I was really looking forward to Omerta, only to be disappointed in how flat it was. While Godfather had interesting, multidimensional characters who felt like they had proper motivations for their actions, Omerta feels more like a second-rate TV show in the depiction of its characters. They are drawn as simply and as lazily as possible. Their actions feel strange, though I sometimes felt Puzo was straining to do so. The story also lacked flair. It was very formulaic, and I felt that it lacked conviction. However, it does feature a lot of forward momentum, as in no scene is wasted. Puzo streamlines the whole narrative into a free flowing experience that may turn off some people, but it makes for a fast, decent read. I simply cannot recommend Omerta to any Puzo fan. If you're looking for the brilliance that can be found in The Godfather, don't look here. This book lacks interesting characters, and its narrative feels flat at best. Get this if you're looking for a quick read. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesThe Godfather (3) AwardsDistinctions
When Don Raymonde Aprile, an old-school Mafia leader who has retired, is killed, it is not his children, who were kept strictly away from their father's business, who seek to avenge him, but his Sicilian-born ward, Astorre, the son of an even greater Mafia chieftain. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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