Omerta

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: Mario Puzo has an extraordinary ability to entwine stories and beautifully draw the resulting plot together.

The story is told from the characters contradictory viewpoints; I however expected a closer understanding and bond to be established with the individuals. I felt he did not penetrate the surface of their personalities, preferring to concentrate on the storyline.

Rating:
Summary: Best Mafia story since Goodfellas and Godfather
Review: I bought this book from an airport bookshop, before an early morning flight off on holiday. Once I was one-quarter through, I COULD NOT put it down until I was finished. Why is it that I always buy my favourite books when I have least time to make my choice? Just lucky, I suppose.

The plot is not over-complicated but gripping and tight, and the suspense is not inferior to that forged by Stephen King in his best novels such as Pet Sematary. I do not agree with the reviewers who said that characters are one-dimensional. If they are, this is because people are generally one-dimensional, they are either good or evil, honourable or low-life, strong or weak, but life puts them into complex situations with unpredictable outcomes. This is how the story of Godfather was built, and many other great stories. This is where the eternal appeal of Mafia tales lies, and this is what keeps a reader turning pages. Few writers, however, are capable of utilizing this tool with the same skill as Puzo.

Rating:
Summary: Sit Down and read while eating Olives from a barrel
Review: A quick and satisfying read I would say. I love all of Mario's books. This is some good pulp fiction for sure.

Rating:
Summary: He should have practice Omerta
Review: This book pained me.

Truly.

I have read all of Mario Puzo's stuff and know what he is capable of writing: and this wasn't his best. Look, I am not trying to be obnoxious-critical for the sake of critical. But I must confess my frustration. Something wasn't right with this book: something that lingered just under my thoughts, just a whisper of doubt. And then I put my mind on it! The VOICE was wrong. The IDEAS were Puzo, but it wasn't his voice, the way the words sounded in my mind, were not how Mario Puzo writes. It was like reading a recent Louis La'Moure release that they keep finding stuck away in a box. Yup, its about cowboys. Yup, its in the west. Yup, we've got a cute, firy western woman. It must be Louis La'Moure.

He he he. Ha ha ha. Wink wink. Ya right.

I read the other reviews and was curious at the proclamations: "Vintage Puzo!"

What?

There was no finesse in this story, none of the craft that Mr. Puzo is so famous for. Omerta fails to even maintain the basics of good fiction. As an exercise read the first chapter of The God Father, and then read the first chapter of Omerta. Puzo "shows" me The God Father's greatness with subtlety. In Omerta Puzo "tells" me about Don April's ruthlessness. He starts Medias Res, in the middle of things, in The God Father. In Omerta I couldn't tell where he started. The God Father is a finely woven tapestry of historic and present day events. I might credit Omerta with marginally interesting plot events, a vague cause and effect, which drives the narrative, but none of the tightly crafted drama of his previous work.

So I'm thinking about all this as I grind through the pages, wondering. Did Mr. Puzo write this?

Tough call.

I realize he recently died. Could the book manufacturers been motivated by greed to put out one more Mario Puzo book that wasn't really his? Not beyond the realm of possibility. But I don't think that was what really happened because like I said, the IDEAS were Puzo's. I think this was his working first draft. The kind a writer finishes before he takes the finer pointed pens and different colored crayons and turns it into fiction. And the literary-snicker-powers-that-be published it because Mr. Puzo wasn't with us any longer to work the rest of his magic.

This makes me sad ... for all concerned.

Rating:
Summary: True Vintage by the mafia master.
Review: Great writing. exceptional characters. Great plotting! I wish this was a movie. Loved every page. Great storytelling.

Rating:
Summary: NOT QUITE!!!
Review: I've been waiting for months for the paper back version of Omerta to come out but,even though I enjoyed reading it( It only took 2 days of reading in spare time)it left me with a vague sense of something missing. It will obviously make a great movie or tv series,but I couldn't feel the same sense of involvment that I had with the characters in all the other Mario Puzo novels.The Don of a major "family" is murdered at his grandsons confirmation ceremony,and the care of his real life family is taken over by a so-called nephew who has been trained from childhood in just such a role. The level of violence is high ,as in all the other Mafia novels,but somehow,it just didn't grab me as much and I doubt if I'll read it again( as I did all the others)

Rating:
Summary: True vintage
Review: Omerta is written in a way that readers would be able to imagine the scenes vividly as almost all of Mario Puzo's works have since become major movies or TV mini-series. Interests in America's mafiosos never actually gone away with offerings such as Sopranos, Donnie Brasco, Carlito's Way, Godfather trilogy, Goodfella, etc to pave the way for Omerta to become a movie in its own rite. Just like any other mafioso stories, Omerta contains plots, subplots of honourable characters, flawed characters withold traditional values or betraying partner(s) for greed respectively. Then, there are also love interest, politics, strategies & tactics utilised to outwit one another, assassination, cynicism or dark humour depending how readers see them, etc. A book that is better left on his own devices & resorting readers to enjoy it all on their own. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. It's that good.

Rating:
Summary: The best of Puzo was his last bestseller!
Review: A fine piece of fiction by the author of the Godfather! This weas his last book and I think it was his best and that is a hard thing to say because that "The Godfather" was so compelling! I could not put this down for one second. Great telling of the mafia sagas. His storytelling was so fantastic. it is sad that his life endede after this book was his last.

Rating:
Summary: Italian Tradition
Review: This is a great Mafia novel about the Italian honor. Mafia and honor, sometimes its difficult as outsiders to understand the code of the Mafia. All of the great stories like this one illustrate the respect of tradition, familial ties and honor, but they also include murder, treachery and merciless vengeance.Puzo tells the story of a don's family and their struggle to survive after his assaination. And as usual he does a fantastic job of drawing in the reader into another great tale of Mafia family and obligations. Great book.

Rating:
Summary: The last but not the best
Review: This last book of Puzo was as many trilogies go, not as good as the first, and not as good as the second. The Godfather and The Last Don were very good reads - very capturing and political, but this one seemed to just go through the motions. If you liked the first two books, definately get this one, it's the last one you'll read from Puzo, but don't expect a bedazzeling Godfather. It's a good book none the less.