The Family Corleone

By: Ed Falco

Narrated by: Bobby Cannavale

Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

Prequel please!

Great story reacquainting us with classic characters! I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I would love to see this on the big screen someday!! Instant classic!

Loved it!

Loved it!
Narrator was a pleasure to listen to, brilliant with the voice changes of characters.

Good, But Confusing

There are several ridiculously glaring mistakes that make me wonder if the author ever read The Godfather or if he ever watched the movie (Luca’s “disposal” of the Chicago assassins sent after Don Vito, Sandra’s parents, Sonny’s involvement in the Olive Oil War, the story of which this novel is supposed to tell, and the death of Jumpin’ Joe) and the author does not seem to realize that there are more words in the English language other than ‘said’; you will get so tired of hearing the word “said” that you will scream. Other than that, this is a fairly enjoyable yarn and the performance by Bobby Cannavale is fantastic.

Good prequel to a classic

This book is a must read for any fans of "The Godfather." It gives insights to how the family came to power. The narration by Bobby Cannavale was good and the story was gripping.There is some graphic content that is definitely not for everyone. For me the only frustrating thing about this book is the repetition of the word "said" during the characters conversation. "He said, she said" etc. At some points it felt like it was every other word. This only a mild complaint as I still highly recommend this book for fans.

Now I know the back story

I now know how Sonny got started in the family business, Luca Brasi became so sullen and slow of speech.
Amazing story read perfectly with great impersonation of characters in "The Godfather". I could hear the voices of James Cann, and Marlon Brando.
Outstanding work!!!

a compelling story just as good as the originals,

a compelling story that will keep you hooked from beginning to end complemented by superb voice acting.

Excellent job !!!!!!

Very hard to put down, the backstories informative. This should have been made into a movie.

Outstanding

Really love this book really love the original....
I love how deep they went into the lore of the Godfather highly recommend

Wonderfully written

It is as if Mario Puzo had written this himself! Great work of literature and ties into the original seamlessly.

I didn't think I was going to like this, but I did

I really liked this story. I love learning the backstory on everything, and this was satisfying. It made me understand so much more about the characters. Falco did Puzo proud. Bobby Canavale has a great voice. Looked his performance.