Omerta

If you're one of the many keen to be gripped again by the power and drama of Mario Puzo's The Godfather, rejoice at the appearance of his new book Omertà. We are once again in the dark, fascinating world of the Mafia. And this is a saga perfectly suited to the audiobook medium: a compelling tale that unfolds with a cold, glittering fascination. And who better than Joe Mantegna, star of Homicide, Bugsy and (most tellingly) the Godfather saga itself? His perfectly nuanced, dispassionate reading is spot on.

Omertà is the Sicilian code of silence, and is the essential element by which the Mafia has maintained its power over the centuries. But (as in the Corleone saga) Puzo is interested in the way in which changing times force organised crime to adapt, however painful the process. The code is tested when a mob boss is brutally murdered in New York, and both his nephew, Astorre, and the New York FBI chief, Cilke, inaugurate investigations into the killing. It soon becomes clear to both men that a grim conspiracy has spread its tentacles across rival gangs, corrupt bankers and even the courts. Astorre and Cilke both find that much blood must be spilled before the killers of Don Aprile are found--and there are many (on both sides of the law) who will do their best to stop them.

Puzo handles his themes with customary panache, and remains an old hand at moral equivalence: however much we may disapprove, we remain riveted by the implacable cold-bloodedness of his protagonists. --Barry Forshaw

"The narrative bowls along... to keep readers turning pages all the way to an explosive showdown." (Daily Mail)

"Here is all the classic material of Mafia mythology.... spins a spell all its own" (The Times)

"Puzo's genius was to create a world so thick with personality and acknowledged rules of behaviour, along with its crime and violence, that reading his books becomes a seriously guilty pleasure" (New York Post)