by Edward Falco
Part of The Godfather, book 5
First published 2012
New York, 1933. Vito Corleone watches the Great Depression grip the city while crime families thrive in the final days of Prohibition. The end of legal alcohol prohibition threatens to reshape the criminal landscape, and Vito knows only the strongest organizations will survive the coming war. His youngest children Michael, Fredo, and Connie attend school without knowing their father's true work. Tom Hagen studies at college. But seventeen-year-old Sonny presents Vito's greatest concern. The eldest son grows impatient and reckless, rejecting his father's push toward legitimate business. Sonny wants to join the real family operation, to follow Vito's dangerous path. As rival families prepare for battle, Vito must protect his empire while steering his children toward safety. The story explores how tradition and violence intertwine, how loyalty and betrayal shape a family's destiny during a pivotal moment in American crime history.
Genres: family, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, crime
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: family-drama, power-struggle
Setting: New York
Period: 1933
436 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: violence