Mario Puzo wrote “The Godfather” which is a modern classic that sold 21 million copies and evolved into the first two “Godfather” films directed by Francis Ford Coppola. These movies are widely considered two of the best movies of all time.

A prequel is a book, which antedates the original book and brings to life the development of the characters that made up the original story. Ed Falco an award-winning author who has written four story collections and three novels writes “The Family Corleone”. He has also penned nine plays in addition to poems, essays and book reviews. He is a professor of English at Virginia Tech where he directed the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing. This background fully qualifies him to capture the essence of the people who make up this Mafia family and describe their early years.
In 1933, the nation was changing from a prohibition era that created many opportunities for criminals to peddle illegal liquor at a high profit. Changes came to the way they were going to do business and the five Mafia families that controlled New York came to grips with how they would do business in the future. Vito Corleone, the Godfather, was patient in his approach to gaining control of the other families and had the foresight to know that careful planning was necessary to achieve his takeover.

Artists use broad-brush strokes when painting a picture to illustrate they have mastery over the entire canvas. Vito Corleone was not different. He created a scenario of bribery, which included Judges, Councilmen, and even the Mayor of New York. He was able by his illegal and legal profits to obtain favors, which he made available to the other Mafia families, thus he made himself invaluable to them.

During this early origin of the family, the children who will become the main characters of the movies and the book “The Godfather” grow up. Featuring the relationship between Sonny and his father, we see how control of many situations make Sonny a more calculating criminal rather than just being hot tempered. The other children are either too young or are in school getting educated.

Vito Corleone had ambitious dreams for his children, including Sonny, but Sonny at 17 was rambunctious and tried to strike out on his own. He organized his own gang of thugs who robbed another Don and stole his shipment of whiskey. Touching off a skirmish between the two families, Sonny and his gang found they had to stop being independent and come into the fold.

One of the interesting facets of this book is the use of Italian throughout. At first, the reader does not realize what the words mean. Ed Falco has treated us to an Italian language lesson by including a glossary at the back of the book that tells how to pronounce the words and what they mean.

Many of the scenes are not for the squeamish. Depicted in clear language is the gross killing of various characters throughout the book. Remember, these are not your loving and kindly meek people. They are rough and tough from the top, Vito, to the bottom Sonny!

Humor is interspersed along with some love scenes, though these are not that graphic. One funny incident involved a couple of scammers who attempted to outsmart Vito as he was constructing his family’s compound on Long Island. These two men showed up during construction and said they were going to inspect, free, the furnace installation. They proceeded to tear it apart and then tried to charge for reassembly. Vito told them he would send one of his men down to pay them their outrageous sum. Sonny wanted to fight them immediately, but Vito said that he would not have to since when his man got through with them, they would put it together free and apologize for the inconvenience. They did apologize and drove away in their van on three tires since the other one was tireless!

This is an excellent adult book from start to finish and seems to kindle once again how the five families in New York evolved into the Mafia. This is a five star book, which is highly recommended.