The Space Prodigal

by Carl Sherrell

255 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1981

Reviews

[Shamim E. Haque · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting early book on the Mafia operating in the US (and exclusively using New York, at the time, as its base). Penned during the mid 50s, this book predate Mario Puzo's much celebrated Godfather, and provided a detailed modus operandi of the Italian mafia- well before it became popular knowledge (and stock formula for many subsequent movies, TV soaps and books). Harold Robbins is easy to read and the plethora of cheap editions (with covers that are incongruent to the content inside) perhaps make the reader perceive that the books merit little value as literature. But a careful reading of a novel like Stiletto confirms that Robbins took pains in developing the characters that people his novels, especially the central character. Cesare, the protagonist of Stiletto, is a complicated character. As I read the story I had a hard time trying to pigeonhole him as a type (commonly found in such novels): was he a gangster?, an adrenaline junkie? a ruthless businessman, or a proud aristocrat? Often it seemed he was all of these, and then it appeared that he was perhaps none of these.

The plot is not very original, but it was still a great read, for the story was fast paced and rife with interesting twists and turns. Published in 1960 it was novels like Stiletto that predicted Robbins' position as a best selling author of the coming decades- the 70s and the 80s.

[James]

The story of this steamy novel centers on an amoral young Italian aristocrat with a penchant for violence who owes his extravagant lifestyle to the favors of a mafia overlord. So when he is asked to silence four witnesses due to testify against the mob, the aristocrat is more than happy to comply in a most brutal manner. Only he did not figure on a special agent--one who helped build the mountain of evidence against the organization--entering into a lethal game of cat-and-mouse with him. And the special agent is the only one who realizes that it is not loyalty, or honor, or debt that drive the young man to murder--but the thrill of the kill!

[JennanneJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guy managed to combine sci-fi WITH fantasy, by splitting the human race into those with and those without technology.

I don't want to say that I liked this book, because I didn't particularly enjoy it. However, I did read the entire book, because new situations kept cropping up and I had to see what was going to happen. It kept me interested, but it was more than 500 pages of more and more ridiculousness.

As a disclaimer, I'm not a huge sci-fi fan. I like *good* fantasy, sci-fi (ie. Tolkien, Ray Bradbury, etc) but don't bother much with the so-so stuff. In my opinion, this was just "so-so."

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read as a kid, OK book. For those who want to cross Sci-Fi and Fantasy.