Omerta

Rating:
Summary: Been there, done that!
Review: It isn't that the book Omerta by Mario Puzo won't hold your interest, becaue it will. And it isn't that its not a fast paced read, filled with what Puzo fans have come to expect, because it is. And it isn't that I didn't enjoy this title, because there were parts that I did. It's just that Mr. Puzo did this before, and much better at that, in The Godfather.

Billed as the third and last book in a trilogy devoted to the Mafia which includes The Godfather and The Last Don, Omerta tells the story of the Aprile family. Once the head of this Mafia organization, Don Raymonde worked hard to see that his three children and adopted son have hardly ever been involved in the family business. But when he's killed gangland style in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, it is up to his adopted son to avenge his murder and bring the family legitimately into the 21st century.

Since Mr. Puzo died in 1999, unles he left some unpublished manuscripts, this will be his last book. And while this is an enjoyable read, I think his loyal fans may prefer to reread better books like The Godfather anbd The Last Don, two of my favoties.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Mario Puzo has been an acknowledged master of the tales of Sicilian emigres in the Melting pot of US. His earlier novels depicted lives of the Italians who straddled the illegal arena so forcefully.
Godfather came the closest to hitting where it hurts. Unfortunately the same can hardly be said for 'Omerta'. Although the book establishes the boundaries fairly early on, it never manages to get out of the pat convenience of the plot.
Thus you have Astorre Viola, a part time macaroni business man, part time singer and main protagonist.
He takes over the reigns (although subtly) of the Aprile family after the Don dies (murdered).
Even as Puzo sets out the spread of characters, and his language is lucid as ever, it calls increasingly for a suspension of belief.
Hard to believe that so many coincidences can be crammed into a single plot. Truth be told it all coalesces pretty well at the end.
Still there is something far fetched about the larger than life characters (especially Astorre) and the fringe elements that somehow don't build up to an appetising whole.
It is definitely a good rainy day read but not among his classics.
A pity that it was also his last book. Not one I would like to remember him by.

Rating:
Summary: Mario Puzo- Omerta
Review: Mario Puzo's last book "Omerta" starts off with Don Raymond Aprile an old mafia leader, who has had his children brought up to be good citizens, and has retired himself from his old life, to seek legitimacy. When Aprile, is assasinated after coming out from his grandsons confirmation, his children are left his inhertiance, with his adopted nephew Astorre Viola getting majority share in his banks, unlike his real children however, Aprile has had Viola trained, and he is much more then a simple macaroni dealer with a love for horses. Now Viola must protect his family, from the FBI, rival mobsters, and renegade cops. Thats a very brief description of book, as it has been reviewed many times I thought it would best now to talk about how I feel about it. Some of other reviewers have mentioned that they dont feel its vintage Puzo, and some even feel he did not write this book fully. Personally I think he wrote majority of it, but its simply just not one of his better books, Puzo has written many excellent novels, it makes sense that some will not be as good as others. However I still feel that it was an entertaining read, and that Puzo added some new elements by going into different perspectives, whether it be the Sturzo brothers, Don Aprile, or FBI agent Kurt Clike, the reader gets different views. "Omerta" to me will not rank among Puzos best books but even an average Puzo novel is good compared to alot of the reading material out nowadays. 3.5

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good read
Review: Omerta is on one hand an exiting mafia drama and on the other quite dissapointing. The excitment comes from Puzo's usual arsenal of excellent characters and a quick paced story. The dissapointment comes from the fact that this book is not anywhere close to the quality of Puzo's other two mafia novels, The Godfather and The Last Don. Thos two showed us the mafia in a way we hadn't seen it before with the Godfather focusing on those in charge and The Last Don choosing to look at those who carrey out the orders. Omerta doesn't seem to know where it wants to land. It seems to go for a balance between the two and winds up getting lost somewhere in the middle. Now if you're a fan of Puzo and are looking to read this novel, don't worry. It has passages that are just as gritty and violent as those in his other books but at the same time don't go into this book expecting another Godfather. Take it for what it is and hopefully you'll enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: entertaining
Review: While 'The Godfather' continues to reign supreme over the other works of Mario Puzo, this novel definitely holds it's own as an exciting and gripping story of deceit, honour, and retribution.

Those who are familiar with Puzo's earlier mafia works will most likely find this story to be a bit closer tied to corruption in the government and the dark side of the political system. This may be because a good portion of the novel takes place in America as opposed to Italy, or simply because not as many characters are involved in Mafia families. Either way, it's a step in a different direction which may turn off fans of novels like 'The Sicilian' or 'The Last Don'. Most readers, however, will most likely welcome this change, as it doesn't really detract in any way from enjoyment of the book. The characters are still memorable, the plot has just the right level of complexity, and a man who betrays his friends will still be dead by the following morning.

One drawback I found was the massive number of characters. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but Mario Puzo's style of writing is such that the reader has to remember the name of every single character they read about because the name will most likely come up again in the novel. If you don't remember who the person is it may detract from your understanding of the plot as a whole, and that's not a good thing. If your even an occasional reader, however, you probably wont have a problem with this.

Overall, this is quite an interesting story, and definitely worth the time it takes to read.