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Omerta
Mario Puzo Manufacturer: Ballantine Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Mass Market Paperback Similar Items: ASIN: 0345432401 Release Date: 2001-05-01 |
Book Description
To Don Raymonde Aprile's children he was a loyal family member, their father's adopted "nephew." To the FBI he was a man who would rather ride his horses than do Mob business. No one knew why Aprile, the last great American Don, had adopted Astorre Viola many years before in Sicily; no one suspected how he had carefully trained him . . . and how, while the Don's children claimed respectable careers in America, Astorre Viola waited for his time to come.Download Description
Mario Puzo spent the last three years of his life writing "Omerta", the final installment in his Mafia saga about power and morality in America. In The Godfather, he introduced us to the Corleones. In The Last Don, he told the wicked tale of the Clericuzio. In "Omerta", Mario Puzo chronicles the affairs of the Apriles, a family on the brink of legitimacy in a world cf criminals.Don Raymonde Aprile is an old man wily enough to retire gracefully from organized crime after a lifetime of ruthless conquest. Having kept his three children at a distance, they are now respectable members of the establishment: Valerius is an Army colonel who teaches at West Point; Marcantonio is an influential TV network executive; and Nicole is a corporate litigator with a weakness for taking on pro bono cases to fight the death penalty.
To protect them from harm, and to keep an eye on his entree into the legitimate world of international banking, Don Aprile has adopted a "nephew" from Sicily, Astorre Viola, whose previous legal guardian made the unfortunate decision cf committing suicide in the trunk of a car. Astorre is an unlikely enforcer -- a macaroni importer with a fondness for riding stallions and recording Italian ballads with his band.
Don Aprile's retirement is seen as a business opportunity by his last Mafia rival, Timonna Portella. At the same time, it is viewed with suspicion by Kurt Cilke, the FBI's special agent in charge of investigating the Mafia. Cilke has achieved remarkable success in breaking down the bonds between families, cultivating high-ranking sources who in return for federal protection have violated omerta -- Sicilian for "code of silence" -- the vow among men of honor that,until recently, kept them from betraying their secrets to authorities.
As Cilke and the FBI mount their campaign to wipe out the Mafia once and for all, Astorre Viola and the Apriles find themselves in the midst of one last war, a conflict in which it is hard to distinguish who is o
Amazon.com
Omerta, the third novel in Mario Puzo's Mafia trilogy, is infinitely better than the third Godfather film, and most movies in fact. Besides colorful characters and snappy dialogue, it's got a knotty, gratifying, just-complex-enough plot and plenty of movie-like scenes. The newly retired Mafioso Don Raymonde Aprile attends his grandson's confirmation at St. Patrick's in New York, handing each kid a gold coin. Long shot: "Brilliant sunshine etched the image of that great cathedral into the streets around it." Medium shot: "The girls in frail cobwebby white lace dresses, the boys [with] traditional red neckties knitted at their throats to ward off the Devil." Close-up: "The first bullet hit the Don square in the forehead. The second bullet tore out his throat."More crucial than the tersely described violence is the emotional setting: a traditional, loving clan menaced by traditional vendettas. With Don Aprile hit, the family's fate lies in the strong hands of his adopted nephew from Sicily, Astorre. The Don kept his own kids sheltered from the Mafia: one son is an army officer; another is a TV exec; his daughter Nicole (the most developed character of the three) is an ace lawyer who liked to debate the Don on the death penalty. "Mercy is a vice, a pretension to powers we do not have ... an unpardonable offense to the victim," the Don maintained. Astorre, a macaroni importer and affable amateur singer, was secretly trained to carry on the Don's work. Now his job is to show no mercy.
But who did the hit? Was it Kurt Cilke, the morally tormented FBI man who recently jailed most of the Mafia bosses? Or Timmona Portella, the Mob boss Cilke still wants to collar? How about Marriano Rubio, the womanizing, epicurean Peruvian diplomat who wants Nicole in bed--did he also want her papa's head?
If you didn't know Puzo wrote Omerta, it would be no mystery. His marks are all over it: lean prose, a romance with the Old Country, a taste for olives in barrels, a jaunty cynicism ("You cannot send six billionaires to prison," says Cilke's boss. "Not in a democracy"), an affection for characters with flawed hearts, like Rudolfo the $1,500-an-hour sexual massage therapist, or his short-tempered client Aspinella, the one-eyed NYPD detective. The simultaneous courtship of cheery Mafia tramp Rosie by identical hit-man twins Frankie and Stace Sturzo makes you fall in love with them all--and feel a genuine pang when blood proves thicker than eros.
This fitting capstone to Puzo's career is optioned for a film, and Michael Imperioli of TV's The Sopranos narrates the audiocassette version of the novel. But why wait for the movie? Omerta is a big, old-fashioned movie in its own right. --Tim Appelo
Customer Reviews:
Good read, but not on par with his best work.......2007-06-13
I read this book in One sitting........2007-03-10
Nothing compares with The Godfather: Every bit as good as The Last Don.......2006-12-14
geez luis.......2006-10-27
ALL LOOSE ENDS ARE TIED.......2006-09-18
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Omertà (Punto de Lectura)
Mario Puzo Manufacturer: Suma de Letras ProductGroup: Book Binding: Mass Market Paperback ASIN: 8466302956 |
Book Description
Another mafia novel from the author of The Godfather. This novel aside from colorful characters and snappy dialogue, it's got knotty, gratifying, just-complex-enough plot and plenty of movie-like scenes.Blurb in Spanish:
Don Raymonde Aprile se retira de la Mafia tras haberle dedicado toda su vida. Sus tres hijos han crecido ajenos a los oscuros negocios que ha llevado y, para mantenerles así, decide ceder el relevo al joven Astorre, a quien adoptó años atrás para formarlo y convertirlo en su mano derecha. Kurt Cilke, agente del FBI, ha obtenido un éxito sin precedentes al lograr convencer a algunos mafiosos emblemáticos de violar la omertà, pacto de silencio y de honor en la Mafia siciliana, a cambio de protección federal. Mientras el FBI concentra sus fuerzas en erradicar el crimen organizado, Astorre y los Aprile se debaten entre la compasión y la venganza. Con Omertà, Mario Puzo se adentra por última vez en el mundo de la Mafia y cierra con contundencia el círculo que inició con El Padrino.
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The Godfather; The Last Don; Omerta
Manufacturer: Easton Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Leather Bound ASIN: B000CKKJR2 |
Product Description
3 volume LEATHER BOUND set accented in 22kt gold! ! Titles include: The Godfather; The Last Don; Omerta
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L'Omerta Francaise
Sophie Coignard Manufacturer: Presse Pocket ProductGroup: Book Binding: Mass Market Paperback ASIN: 2266124129 |
Customer Reviews:
fascinating, dense, and very challenging.......2003-11-28
For example, in the mid-1980s, when it became apparent that blood provided to hemophiliacs (to enhance their blood clotting factor) was tainted with the AIDS virus, it was known that the bureaucrat in charge was in cahoots with the blood companies. Together, they had refused to use an available technology to superheat the blood, thereby destroying the virus, for business reasons and simple laziness. The top journalist - of Le Monde - was directly in the pay of this group (for PR services) as a supplement to his income, apparently a standard practice among French journalists that is akin to the "speaking engagements" that some American mega-journalists do. The legal apparatus was afraid to touch the issue, and meanwhile thousands more were inflected via transfusions. Finally, some people spoke and it became one of the biggest scandals of post-war France. This is a truely shocking and horrible story.
Similar stories can be told about Mitterrand's secret second family (housed at taxpayer expense in a chateau), Giscard's diamonds (from the cannabalistic dictator Bokassa), a long-ignored though well known ring of sex abusers of chidren in Provence, and payoff scandals like that of the recent Elf trial. Of course, what the reader wonders is what stories don't get told and what impact it all has on the political process. It is a very ugly picture.
If you are not quite sure what events the above paragraph refers to, you are forewarned about the knowledge level required for this book. Hundreds of recent events are referred to with little explanation - I was educated at one of the top political science schools in Paris and not even I was certain what such phrases as the "Balladurian debacle" should evoke. In the same way, names of media and political personalities are reeled off in such rapid succession that it made my head spin. Thus, you must have read the French press regularly over the last 30 years or so. That limits the audience, to say the least, but it is very very interesting indeed. I gained a completely different perspective on a country I know very well (and love and hate), including how the institutions work and how people manage their careers, often those of individuals that I watched on TV and whose books I read.
That being said, there is a relentless quality about the outrage in this book that is tiring. It is 500 pages of denunciation, laments, and righteous anger. It reads much like a book by Seymour Hersh, which is akin to whipping a subject so hard and long that it is reduced to sludge. Moreover, the title "Omerta" refers to the behavior of the mafia in S Italy, which keeps people silent through both kinship loyalty and naked fear - people can get shot in broad daylight and no one will talk. I think this overdoes it a bit, but that is a subjective judgment.
Recommended warmly for specialists in and lovers of France. It is also very well written.
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Le Rapport Omerta 2002
Sophie Coignard Manufacturer: Albin Michel ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 2226130721 |
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Le rapport Omerta 2003
Sophie Coignard Manufacturer: Albin Michel ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 222613672X |
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Omerta
Peter McCurtin Manufacturer: Leisure Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 8501058971 |
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Omerta
Mario Puzo Manufacturer: New York: Random House, 2000 ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000NXBQFC |
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Omerta
Peter McCurtain Manufacturer: Leisure Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000J2DHQ8 |
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Omerta
Mario Puzo Manufacturer: Random House ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio Cassette ASIN: B000MS0GUE |
Product Description
books on tape
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Dagger and the Cross, The
Judith Tarr Manufacturer: Spectra ProductGroup: Book Binding: Mass Market Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0553294164 Release Date: 1991-10-01 |
Customer Reviews:
The best in historical fantasy.......2000-04-07
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German Daggers Of World War II - A Photographic Reference: Dlv/nsfk - Diplomats - Red Cross - Police And Fire - Rlb - Teno - Customs - Reichsbahn - Postal - Hunting And Forestry - Etc.
Thomas M. Johnson Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0764322052 |
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Cross And Dagger
Wm Scott Durrant Manufacturer: Dent ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000UL0PCW |
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The Dagger and the Cross
Manufacturer: Fellowship Publications ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000GDH0J0 |
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The Dagger and the Cross
Joseph Hatton Manufacturer: R.F. Fenno & Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000QUT1AY |
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The dagger and the Cross
Rutenber Culbert Manufacturer: Fellowship ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000NYGWW8 |
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Dagger and the Cross: An Examination of Christian Pacifism.
Culbert G. Rutenber Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000M41S6Y |
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THE DAGGER AND THE CROSS; AN EXAMINATION OF CHRISTIAN PACIFISM
Culbert G. Rutenber Manufacturer: Fellowship Publications ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000IOZW3S |
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The dagger and the cross;: An examination of Christian pacifism
Culbert Gerow Rutenber Manufacturer: Fellowship Publications ProductGroup: Book Binding: Unknown Binding ASIN: B0007E1TQI |
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From Sonny Dagger to Sonny Cross: My Other Self
Frankie-Antonio Sealy Manufacturer: Word-For-Word Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 1889732095 |
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The Miracle of Magnesium
Carolyn Dean Manufacturer: Ballantine Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
Accessories:
ASIN: 0345445880 Release Date: 2003-01-01 |
Book Description
“Magnesium is indeed the unsung hero and is a key nutriceutical that everybody needs to know about. . . . This book needs to be read by any individual wishing to improve their quality of life. . . . Dr Dean has the best credentials in bringing solutions to those suffering from the hidden magnesium disorders that affect most of us.”Customer Reviews:
the best book on health.......2007-09-14
My personal success with this book.......2007-07-19
What Is With The Sellers of This Book?.......2007-05-02
Miracle book.......2007-02-06
Magnesium Miracle Reciew.......2006-07-17
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The Magnesium Miracle
Carolyn Md Nd Dean Manufacturer: Ballantine Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 034549458X Release Date: 2006-12-26 |
Book Description
“Magnesium is indeed the unsung hero and is a key nutriceutical that everybody needs to know about. . . . This book needs to be read by any individual wishing to improve their quality of life. . . . Dr Dean has the best credentials in bringing solutions to those suffering from the hidden magnesium disorders that affect most of us.”Customer Reviews:
Repeats the same things over and over.......2007-09-13
A must read for everyone who cares about their health.!.......2007-08-28
I wish every form of health practitioner read this book .......2007-06-01
Educational.......2007-03-09
Great, thoroughly referenced book.......2007-03-09
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Rosie's Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book
Judy Rosenberg Manufacturer: Workman Publishing Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0761106332 |
Book Description
They're full of butter, cream, eggs, sugar, and sometimes the chocolate doesn't quit. But the cakes, cookies, pies, and goodies assembled in Rosie's Bakery are hands-down the best you'll ever taste. And aren't you worth the treat?Customer Reviews:
It's a Good Book.......2007-10-11
We're Not Worthy.......2007-03-18
Delicious recipes!.......2007-01-05
Southern Woman Makes Cheesecake.......2006-10-11
I love this cookbook!.......2006-05-01
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