Rating: 
Summary: The Corrupt Family
Review: Puzo brings the mafia to life in this novel. The character are as real as can be, eventhough some of the things that they do seem unrealistic. Puzo shows how the influence of the mafia reaches high ranking officials in the Catholic Church. I love Puzo's style of writng and wa engrossed in the novel the entire time I read the book. I intend on reading more of Puzo's works. I love the action and drama of this particular novel and hope that the rest of his works are just as good.
Rating: 
Summary: A Family Tragedy
Review: Tells the story of quite an unconventional family - the Pope's and all the sacrifices each member has to go through to do the "will of God" (Warning: You may be appalled upon reading what these sacrifices really are, one wonders how these events were allowed to happen in the Holy See). As with most Puzo novels, it has the puppeteer (Rodrigo Borgia aka Pope Alexander) that holds all the strings. I give this book 4 stars because I can sense a deviation in writing style at the end owed to the fact that Carol Gino concluded this novel as requested by the dying Mario Puzo.
Rating:
Summary: "A Stone For Lucrezia Borgia"
Review: The cover design is suggestive of Puzo's Mob stories. I for one was wishing that Puzo had gotten around to a novelization of the "Godfather III" story that maybe would also round out the Vegas chapters of "Godfather II" not told in the original novel. But this book works out to be a paradoxical fusion of quasi-scholarly historical novel and a return to the quasi-Robbins style that worked well for him in "Fools Die". It certainly gives me more details about the Borgia family, and possibly explodes a myth or two about them that people five centuries later accept as the truth. The Lucrezia featured here is hardly the archetype "evil woman" we see her as today--the lady who among other things inspired the Blood Sweat & Tears hit "Lucretia MacEvil". In this book she starts out as the sweet daughter of Renaissance Pope Alexander (nee Rodrigo Borgia), who's far too much in love with her brother Cesare to be able to normally relate to her real loves--in fact, Cesare is her only true love. This was a side effect of Daddy Dear arranging for Cesare to take care of her virginity so that the man she marries isn't faced with that task. Well, they do say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I've read historical references to the Borgias that hint at a certain family moral notoriety, but none of them go into that much detail. Nor do they actually trace the overall evil of the Borgia family back to the Old Man. It does provide some in-depth insight, though, as to one factor about the Papacy that the Protestant Reformation perhaps did its protesting and reforming about. Puzo's Harold Robbins approach in this book does follow the Robbins tradition of hot sex as in his earlier books, without the gratuitous grossout flavor of later Robbins material. Like Cesare's conquest of a warrior princess in more ways than one. But there are a few cameos by other historical figures. Such as Michelangelo's invention of a siege tower--I hadn't known he had a last name. Machiavelli as a Carl Rowan-style political theorist. Da Vinci as he's about to head for Rome with a few ideas for frescos there--ultimately to end up on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. A historian Puzo certainly wasn't--but you can see that he did his research.
Rating: 
Summary: Reads like a draft rather than a completed novel
Review: The cover of Mario Puzo's last novel "The Family" may read "Completed By Carol Gino," but the actual reading indicates otherwise. In the afterword, Ms. Gino, who was Puzo's companion of twenty years, even expresses her anxiety at the task of completing a novel which was obviously a labor of love for Puzo. As a result, I think she handled the manuscript pretty gingerly, and as I read, I began to believe that "The Family," while undeniably Puzo, was far from a completed project at the time of his death. Then again, Puzo himself supposedly lamented that the writing of a novel about the powerful and infamous Borgia family was a Herculean task, which was why he went back and forth to the manuscript for the better part of fifteen years. Anyone who is familiar with Puzo's writing know his love of detail--which is sadly lacking in "The Family." The writing is rushed in places, nearly purple in others, and the uneveness detracts from the story. The characters are surprisingly one-dimensional, and at the end I felt like I had read a Harlequin Temptation with a little more bloodshed. The whole enterprise smacks of publisher greed, one last chance to make money off the man who wrote arguably one of the greatest pop novels of all time, and one only has to compare "The Family" to any of Puzo's other novels to realize this.
Rating:
Summary: The Family
Review: The First Puzo book I've ever read was the Godfather, just because I had an interest in the Mafia. But after I read it, I decided that maybe I would enjoy some of his other works. So the second book I read was the Family, and I must admit I was not dissapointed. Puzo takes us back to the 15 century and introduces to to the Borgias, the Corleones of that time period. I was impressed by the storyline and the risks taken by this crime family for their power in the Vatican. In my opinion it lives up as just as good a novel as the godfather, but none can ever match it. All in all its a good book if you share an interest in organized crime and want to learn some history of its beginnings.
Rating:
Summary: Lackluster Book
Review: The story of The Family takes place in the 15th Century of Italy and its surrounding areas. We are quickly introduced to the Borgia Family, and immediately recognize that they are the protagonists of this story. Like in Godfather, the story is told in the different perspectives of each character. Through the course of this novel, we are shown a perspective of society and the inner workings of the corrupt churches in the 15th Century. We are given an insight of the political struggles throughout Italy and its surrounding areas. While the characters of The Family are beautifully crafted and unique, they don't contain the spark or the fire that the characters in The Godfather had. It is hard to relate to them because they are from different time periods and have different problems. Somehow, Puzo manages to include cameos by Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Leonardo Da Vinci into this story. This is the second novel that I have read by Mario Puzo. I am pretty disappointed by the novel because it didn't live up to my expectations and I don't think it lived up to the standards of the esteemed writer Mario Puzo. The plot and the characters are not that bad, but his execution is rather dull and boring. It seemed as if there were never really any exciting moments. I was never really drawn into or hooked to the plot of the story. The novel read more like a history lesson, and contained some weird themes that normal modern day people would not approve of. I do not recommend this book and it gets a 2 stars out of 5 from me.
Rating:
Summary: Why Mario Why??
Review: This book is divided into two parts(I think) These being the Romance part and the historical action part Part B was the part I liked it really got into the complex politics of the region(Italy of the 15th century). This includes rather confusing political marriages and city politics. The shear decadence of the Borga family was amazing and this book does a very good job of covering all of that. There are also some really good battle sceans to keep the reader interested Part A in a word "sucks" yes I know that the "Union" between Cathera and Luchrathia actually happened but why can't we just say something like "And so they had sex"? No that would be too easy, instead they have to go into gory detail. Overall-I love Puzo but at times this one reads more like Ann Rice or some cheesy romance novel then Puzo. Also past reviewers are correct, this book has an air of not being finished, like they had to rush this for to the publisher or something.
Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL PROJECT
Review: This book is not a traditional "Mario Puzo", but it is good. History, religion, blood, betrayal - what else do you want. Very good.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Puzo last, but least remembered book.
Review: This book is written to show us the beginings of the true Italian Crime family, of course they are Spanish. The Borgias are the essence of getting and keeping power for the family. I feel that the book was much longer than required. But this is probably to be expected, since Mr. puzzo was not able to finish his work. You can tell the author loved this period of time. He is trying to show us that Pope Alexander was not only the 1st Don but the greatest. The book contains 4 main story lines and several secondary tales as well. The Borgia Pope and his 4 children take center stage, and the quest to unite Italy is the book's theme. The battles that span most of Italy and even the Island of Elba should read at the pace of military battles and the campaign they entail. This would be my favorite part, but the battles are mostly just briefly mentioned and this is most evident when Cesare conquers Elba in a matter of a few hours and a handful of pages in the book. Though I understand that this is not a Military history book. Though not not my favorite book, it is worth reading. Espically if interested in that period and to see just how corrupt the church was. I am glad that Carol Gino took on the task to complete this work.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: This book was an OK read. The writing was stiff, but the story was interesting, if somewhat historically inaccurate. It was good bedtime reading and maybe something I would take with me on a vacation when I want to read something but I don't want to think about it too hard. Lots of gore and weird sex and who doesn't enjoy that? However, if you want the real story, there are tons of well written, colourful and accurate biographies.
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