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Book Review By James Craver
The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Late in 1945, army veteran Michael Corleone brings his fiancee Kay Adams to meet his family on his sister's wedding day. His family, however, is a little different from most families.

His father is Don Vito Corleone, a powerful Mafia boss known as "the Godfather." His brothers Sonny and Fredo are soldiers in the organization and Sonny is the most feared enforcer in New York. His adopted brother Tom Hagen is the lawyer who handles the financial details of the family business. Scattered around the wedding reception are such luminaries as legendary hit man Luca Brasi, world-famous singer Johnny Fontane, and Mafia capo Dominic Clemenza.

After the reception, Don Vito, Sonny, and Tom, meet with Virgil Sollozzo, a drug smuggler who wants them to become partners in his business. Though Sollozzo offers attractive terms, Don Vito declines the offer.

When, a few days later, the Don is cut-down and seriously wounded by a pair of assassins, the violent Sonny is tapped to take the reigns of the family and vows to avenge his father.

In the midst of the resultant gang-war, "college-boy" Michael volunteers to kill Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey, his police protection. Meeting with the two in a small restaurant, Michael slays them both with a hidden pistol.

While Michael heads to exile in Sicily, Sonny continues the gang-war, now battling both the other five New York families and the police. When Sonny dies in a hail of gunfire, Don Vito returns from his convalescence to forge a new peace with the other families and even manages to arrange for someone else to be convicted of the murders Michael committed, allowing his youngest son to come home.

When the Don is finally felled by a heart attack and Fredo is sent to consolidate the family's power in Las Vegas, Michael is called upon to take control of the family business and take revenge on his enemies.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - Dry-cynical
Time/era of story:
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
The crook is.... - criminals killing each other
descript. of violence and chases - 30 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Is MAIN CHARACTER an EVIL criminal? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
Profession/status:
Motive of antagonist - revenge
The antagonists are: - US mafia

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - Italy
City? Yes
City: - New York - wealthy
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - actual description of sex - descript. of breasts - descript. of other female areas
Unusual forms of death - asphyxiation - perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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