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Editorial Review Product Description
Unabridged
Eight Cassettes, 14 hours
The final chapter in Mario Puzo's landmark Mafia trilogy about power and morality in America.
Mario Puzo spent the last three years of his life writing Omerta, the final installment in his legendary Mafia saga.In The Godfather, he introduced us to the Corleones.In The Last Don, he told the wicked tale of the Clericuzios.In Omerta, Mario Puzo chronicles the affairs of the Apriles, a family on the brink of legitimacy in a world of criminals.
Don Raymonde Aprile is an old man, wily enough to retire gracefully from organized crime after a lifetime of ruthless conquest.His three children have grown up to become respectable members of the establishment.To protect them from harm, and to keep an eye on his group of international banks, Don Aprile has adopted a "nephew" from Sicily, Astorre Viola, whose previous legal guardian made the unfortunate decision of committing suicide in the trunk of a car.Astorre is an unlikely enforcer--a macaroni imposter with a fondness for riding stallions and recording Italian ballads with his band.
Don Aprile's retirement 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 among families, cultivating high-ranking sources who, in return for federal protection, have violated omerta--Italian for "code of silence"--the vow among men of honor that, until recently, kept them from betraying their secrets to the 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 on the right side of the law, and whether mercy or vengeance is the best course of action.
Rich with suspense, dark humor, and larger-than-life characters who have turned Mario Puzo's novels into modern myths, Omerta is a powerful epitaph for the Mafia at the century's end and a final triumph for a great American storyteller.Amazon.com Review
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 ... Read more Customer Reviews (137) 
Omerta!! Classic Puzo
If you like Puzo's other work, ie: The Godfather, The Sicilian... than this book is right up your alley. I slightly quicker read then his other book, which go a lot deeper into character development. Omerta is 'The Godfather' set in the early 1990s. Astorre Viola, adopted by the last great American Don, sets out to find his uncle's (adopted fathers) killer, while dealing with an FBI investigation into the 'family business'. Like any Puzo novel, it wouldn't be complete without a touch of the old country, Sicily. A great way to end the crime family novels... Read The Godfather, The Sicilian, and Omerta... Don't think of them as a trilogy, but rather novels that feed into one another. Puzo, you've done it again.
Puzo's farewell novel is a winner
This thrilling tale of Mafia connections, intrigue and revenge is a fine coda to the author's work of powerful families and complicated and contradictory weavings of people, law enforcement agencies and organized crime. Avenging a hit on a retired Don is the plot and sinister forces are at work to convince a nephew of the late patriarch to sell the family's interests in banks to powerful mafiosos and drug dealers. The FBI and the NYPD are portrayed none too favorably as they try play off the influential Aprile family against the powerful Portella family and South American drug cartel members who also have diplomatic immunity. This novel cannot compare to "The Godfather" but is nonetheless an interesting read by a great author.
Omerta
There seems to be a lot of question as to what Puzo intended "Omerta" to be....a conclusion to the Godfather series and movies, or a stand alone expose of the Sicilian/American Mafia.There are enough characters to provide for either scenario, twin assassins, a vengeful son, a pro-bono female lawyer, to mention a few. There still, however, is the unanswered question, "Where was Mario heading before his untimely demise?"
Although he had a very interesting story line I felt he fell somewhat short of my expectations.Maybe I was expecting too much.There are some who claim it is his best writing, so, one must read "Omerta" and then form their own opinion of its place in Puzo's writing repertoire. Even with its shortcomings, I found it an interesting read.
E.J. Walden, author of "Operation Snow Owl"
I Enjoyed Michael Imperioli's Narration andThe Story, But This Version Needs To Be On CD!!
I bought this audiocassette version of the late Mario Puzo's OMERTA
back in the early 2000's and enjoyed Micheal Imperioli's narration of it
because he really has a way of bringing you into the story and the characters.
But my only point of contention is that they didn't release this audio novel in CD form!
I mean in 2009 going into 2010, who still has a cassette deck except
the most die hard of old schoolers who refuse to go quietly into the
digital age without a dirty low down brawl! (-:
(Like a couple of my uncles for instance!)
Once they release this version to CD, I will be glad, and will happily purchase it again.
I've heard that they did a CD version which was narrated by the actor Joe Montegna,
and I like him too as an actor and narrator, but I don't see why Imperioli's version
can't be digitally remastered and reproduced in CD form, since it's already been recorded.
Anywayz, a good audio book.
Puzo's Final Pithy Mafia Tale
Part one was the Corleone's, then came the Clericuzio's then we end it on the Aprile's. This is a fine tale of greed, vengence and loyalty. The characters come out at you and they come to life. The book is filled with good action, plot and dialog. However the problem is we have seen it all before. All in all it is a fine novel, good for a few evenings, and if you have never read Puzo before, it will be all new to you.
T
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