"The Godfather's Revenge" by Mark Winegardner

I am loving this new title, the second Mark Winegardner has written in the bold and bodacious style of Mario Puzo. Using characters we know from the book and the film, Winegardner also created several new ones, and in this second novel (following The Godfather Returns), he adds more life to each of these characters, old and new.

The last novel seemed almost too full of separate story lines: why Fredo turned on his brother and how someone in the Corleone organization plotted his betrayal; how the CIA set up "boot camps" for mob soldiers to learn how to bring down Castro's regime; and how Michael Corleone guaranteed a character named Jimmy Shea (read John Kennedy) a stint in the Oval Office. It was a great, interesting book, but now that many of the characters from it are dead, this new book is a slimmer, trimmer read. And much more gripping. We don't know what's going to happen here. Will Michael and his men find Nick Geraci before he can wreak havoc on the family? Will Tom Hagen survive a smear campaign that Geraci engineered? Will the women in the family ever find peace? (There are some great scenes with the women--don't miss those!)

Anyway, I'd recommend this books to fans of the original Godfather books and fans of the film. Fabulous stuff.

And, I updated my profile. Yes, I'm a mob movie fan. I can't even fit all of the movies I like in the space provided.

FYI, this site will also host my comments on the technological training we're undergoing here at the library. "Can You Tech It?" runs for the next two months and hopefully, I'll finish in time : ) So, fellow readers and staff, I'll include comments about a book and comments about techie stuff at the same time. Sound fair? It will get me more in practice...and make me update this site more!! By the way, I have more Dexter pictures : ) So watch this site!