by Mario Puzo
First published 1997
In the shadowy world of organized crime, the Corleone family teeters on the edge of destruction. When patriarch Vito is nearly killed in a brutal assassination attempt, his son Michael steps forward to protect the family's criminal empire. Forced to navigate a treacherous landscape of betrayal and vengeance, Michael must make impossible choices that will transform him from a principled outsider to the most feared don in New York. As rival families circle like vultures and internal tensions threaten to tear the Corleones apart, Michael becomes the ruthless strategist who will either save or destroy everything his father built. Blood will flow. Loyalty will be tested. And only one family will survive.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, family-drama, power-struggle
Period: 20th-Century
512 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Ballantine Books
Content warnings: violence