The Godfather's Revenge Review

The Godfather's Revenge continues the story from where Winegardner left it in The Godfather's Return.  And that's okay, but with the two-year break between novels, many of the storylines will likely have been forgotten by the reader.  Winegardner makes very little attempt to fill the reader in on what actually happened in the previous novel, suffice to say one guesses there was some bad stuff that happened.  This novel takes place in the years 1963 and 1964.  And just like reality, there is a young charismatic president who was elected through the Mob's help.  His brother is the Attorney General and is actively trying to take the Mob down.  This is causing problems as Michael supported the president, persuading the rest of the family heads to go along.  They, of course, are not happy with the turn of events.  Added to this, there is concern about the deteriorating health of Michael Corleone.  He is ill with diabetes and suffers from its effects.  His former top capo, Nick Geraci, having survived a planned plane crash to eliminate him and set him up as the scapegoat for the violence in the previous novel, is in hiding and plotting the Corleone family's downfall.  Events swirl among the Corleone family, a venture into Hollywood, presidential politics, and other families vying for power.  Events in the political sphere track closely with our own past with differences for literary necessity.  The novel moves to a satisfying conclusion that is not wholly unexpected.

I found the book to be extremely readable.  However, it doesn't burst with action.  There are moments, but the novel seems to move at a glacial pace.  I kept waiting for something important to happen.  I think it could have been tightened up with some judicious editing.  It often drifted into storylines about minor characters.  The focus should have been more on Michael Corleone and Nick Geraci.  These are the two people we are most interested in.  Also, a quick summary of what happened in the previous novel would have been extremely helpful.  I had read the previous book, but I didn't remember what had happened and was force to draw clues as I went along.  I will give a guarded recommendation with the caveats as stated.  Certainly, fans of The Sopranos will enjoy this although it takes place in an earlier time period.