The Family Corleone

By: Ed Falco

Narrated by: Bobby Cannavale

New York, 1933: The city and the nation are in the depths of the Great Depression. The crime families of New York have prospered in this time, but with the coming end of Prohibition, a battle is looming that will determine which organizations will rise and which will face a violent end.

For Vito Corleone, nothing is more important than his family's future. While his youngest children, Michael, Fredo, and Connie, are in school, unaware of their father's true occupation, and his adopted son Tom Hagen is a college student, he worries most about Sonny, his eldest child. Vito pushes Sonny to be a businessman, but Sonny - 17 years old, impatient, and reckless - wants something else: To follow in his father's footsteps and become a part of the real family business.

An exhilarating and profound novel of tradition and violence, of loyalty and betrayal, The Family Corleone will appeal to the legions of fans who can never get enough of The Godfather, as well as introduce it to a whole new generation.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2012 Ed Falco (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Channels the original so well that readers will be vividly reminded of Puzo's strengths...His moments of blam-blam-blam are ace. Best of all, he supplies a grand set-piece finale--a parade--that will have readers dreaming of just one more movie." ( Booklist)

"What works well is Falco's depiction of Vito Corleone, which captures both the cool reserve of young Vito and the insight he demonstrates as Don....A worthy addition to the lurid world of the Five Families." ( Kirkus)

Really enjoyed it

Nice to have a book about the Corleone Family before THE GODFATHER. Good reader too.

excellent

truly enjoyed the store. gave quite a bit of back drop. use the two for one, but is worth a full credit

excellent. just excellent

This is a great prequel to the masterpiece The Godfather by Mario Puzo. I recommend this to any fan of the Godfather series..Ed Falco did justice with this prequel

Great book

I loved this book the best one I got off of here thank y’all I listened to it back to back

Almost sounded like Mario Puzo.

The author managed to capture most of Puzo’s style.
Cannavale’s performance can’t be faulted. Specially how he manages to capture the tone and cadence of the voices of many of the male characters.

Very good prequal.

Fills in background we are all interested inas true Godfather fans. I recommend it to anyone and think would be an interesting movie.

I felt like I was there!

I love this book and story!! I will be on the look out for more from this author!!

Bobby Cannavale, perfect voice for a mob book.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Family Corleone to be better than the print version?

I read a copy of the book along with the audiobook so i think for The Family Corleone Bobby Cannavale voice is just as good as the print. The way he can switch between voices is great and makes the whole experience that much greater. The thing i like most about the audiobook was that it did not skip any part of the book it was read word for word unlike some audiobooks i have tried in the passed.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

A lot, I think Ed Falco's depiction of the how the Corleone family was like before Michael's journey and the way he switches as one characters plot is about to thicken you jump right into to another character story line. He describers how Luca Brasi's life was like before he met Vito and how he can't die.

Which scene was your favorite?

Spoilers!! My favorite scene from the book was when the Corleone family was at a parade and Cork tries to warn Sonny about the Irish going to attack and a intense gun battle brakes out and Cork tries to save Vito and accidentally shoots him but saves Vito because he shot him.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not one thing wrong with Bobby Cannavale performance.

Any additional comments?

This book is very well done. Ed Falco's take on a book that was written 44 year prior is impeccable. Very well done. Bobby Cannavalle voive is spot on.

Enjoyed this prequel to The Godfather

I am a big fan of anything Godfather. The Family Corleone is a great book with new and familiar characters to see how the Corleone Family rose to power. Gives the following books and movies a deeper history. Bobby Cannavale was a great reader.

Originality Suffers

While this was an interesting way to build a pre-Godfather story line, I found way too many references to the that original book in the dialogue and action of the characters, which made this feel more like a parody than an original novel. The narrator did a good (?) job in recreating voices of those actors in the Godfather movie, so I could envision each one in front of me.

All in all, a decent, if not enthralling read, that took a long time to get interesting.