Praise for
The Godfather’s Revenge
“Some of us have been living with the Godfather mythology for thirty-seven years now. The late Mario Puzo’s 1969 bestseller shocked the nation with its explosive mix of sex, violence, and profound cynicism. The new novel, The Godfather’s Revenge…[is] a big, ambitious book…deftly handled and deeply ironic. Winegardner packs a great deal of mob lore into the novel…plenty of action…[and] smart talk. The Godfather’s Revenge is popular fiction at its best and arguably offers more depth and realism than Puzo’s original.”
—The Washington Post
“Re-creating Puzo’s embroidered Mafia universe can be entertaining, and Winegardner has rich (in every sense of the word) material to work with.”
—The New York Times
“Keeps the action moving, the plentiful sex and violence scenes have that Police Gazette swagger, and in the end it may be even more fun, thanks to its deliberate excess and sly asides. Like Puzo, Winegardner paints real-life characters in far darker colors than their public images.”
—New York Daily News
“A corker. [Winegardner’s] created a plot that cleverly encircles and amplifies the existing tale.”
—The Seattle Times
“Faux Kennedy brothers, elaborate detailings of byzantine Cosa Nostra politics, steamy pulp-fiction prose, a hot murder mystery, and [an]…epic cast make this Godfather installment a worthy addition to the chronicle of la famiglia Corleone. Winegardner breathlessly reanimates these archetypes even more effectively than he did in The Godfather Returns. [His] deft plot-spinning is rivaled only by his sure grasp of Goodfella mise-en-scène, the profanity-laced witticisms, the fashion fetishizing, the cool, long, dark sixties Chevy Biscaynes. Minor characters, from upstart Eddie Paradise to the musically monickered Ottilio Cuneo and Osvaldo Atobello, add varnish to inch-thick operatic mobster atmosphere. Bloody and bombastic—a top-notch addition to the saga.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Further Praise for the Novels
of Mark Winegardner
“The real deal.”
—Stephen King
“Shows a hard-eyed love of human drama—sad, ridiculous, and lovely.”
—The Washington Post Book World
“Grand in scope.”
—The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Profoundly impressive…an expansive talent.”
—Antonya Nelson
“A meaty, engrossing novel.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Both an intimate and a sweeping scale. But [Winegardner’s] main achievement is a narrative voice…that’s distinctly his own.”
—Los Angeles Times
“An ambitious novel…. Like Jonathan Franzen in The Twenty-Seventh City, or E. L. Doctorow in City of God, Winegardner takes on the American metropolis…in plain, straightforward prose.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Playful and vivid…a crafty mix of the real and imaginary.”
—Stewart O’Nan
“A grand piece of historical fiction recalling E. L. Doctorow and, more recently, Don DeLillo. Winegardner is a lively writer who holds the reader’s interest throughout his long epic. A remarkable and entertaining book.”
—Booklist
ALSO BY MARK WINEGARDNER
FICTION
The Godfather Returns / 2004
That’s True of Everybody / 2002
Crooked River Burning / 2001
The Veracruz Blues / 1996
NONFICTION
Prophet of the Sandlots / 1990
Elvis Presley Boulevard / 1988
AS EDITOR
3 x 33 / 2005
We Are What We Ate / 1998
The 26th Man / 1991
THE GODFATHER’S REVENGE
MARK WINEGARDNER
SIGNET
Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Previously published in a G. P. Putnam’s Sons edition.
Copyright © The Estate of Mario Puzo, 2006
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-1-1012-1129-8
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Ancora una volta,
alla mia famiglia
Men must either be flattered or crushed, for they will revenge themselves for slight wrongs, while grave ones they cannot. The injury, therefore, that you do a man should be such that you need not fear for revenge.
—MACHIAVELLI, The Prince
Cast of Characters
THE CORLEONE FAMILY
Vito Corleone: the first Godfather of New York’s most powerful crime family Carmela Corleone: wife of Vito Corleone and mother of their four children Santino “Sonny” Corleone: Vito Corleone’s oldest son (deceased)
Sandra Corleone: Sonny’s wife, now living in Florida
Francesca, Kathy, Frankie, and Santino Corleone Jr.: children of Sonny and Sandra
William Brewster Van Arsdale III: Francesca’s husband (deceased)
Tom Hagen: consigliere and (unofficially) adopted son
Theresa Hagen: Tom’s wife and mother of their four children
Frederico “Fredo” Corleone: Vito’s second-born son (underboss 1955–1959)
Michael Corleone: Vito’s youngest son and the reigning Godfather of the Corleone Family
Apollonia Corleone: Michael’s first wife (deceased)
Kay Adams Corleone: Michael’s second wife (divorced) Anthony and Mary Corleone: children of Michael and Kay
Connie Corleone: Vito and Carmela’s daughter
Carlo Rizzi: Connie’s husband (deceased), father of her two sons
THE CORLEONE FAMILY ORGANIZATION (circa 1963)
Godfather
Michael Corleone (1954–) Succeeded his father, Vito Corleone<
br />
Consigliere
Tom Hagen (1945–) Succeeded Genco Abbandando, Vito Corleone’s original consigliere Vito Corleone (1954–1955) and Peter Clemenza (1956–1957) served briefly as consiglieri
Sotto capo (underboss)
Position currently vacant
Formerly Fredo Corleone (1955–1959); Nick Geraci (1959–1961)
Caporegimes
Eddie Paradise (1962–)
Regime started by Salvatore Tessio
In 1955, merged with Nick Geraci’s regime (started by Sonny Corleone)
Richard “Richie Two-Guns” Nobilio (1959–)
Regime started by Peter Clemenza
Clemenza succeeded by Frank Pantangeli, 1957
Other Significant Made Members of the Family
Al Neri: ex-cop; head of Family security rumored to be informal sotto capo
Cosimo “Momo the Roach” Barone: nephew of Sally Tessio; soldato under Geraci and now Paradise
Tommy “Scootch” Neri: soldato under Nobilio; nephew of Al Neri
Renzo Sacripante: soldato under Nobilio
MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION, LA COSA NOSTRA’S RULING BODY
(circa 1963; years on the Commission are in parentheses)
The Five Families of New York
Michael Corleone (1954–), boss of the Corleone Family Succeeded Vito Corleone (1931–1954)
Paul “Fat Paulie” Fortunato (1955–), boss of the Barzini Family Succeeded Emilio Barzini (1931–1955)
Osvaldo “Ozzie” Altobello (1962–), boss of the Tattaglia Family (New York) Succeeded Rico Tattaglia (1955–1961) and Phillip Tattaglia (1931–1955)
Ottilio “Leo the Milkman” Cuneo (1931–), boss of the Cuneo Family Charter member of the Commission
Other known Commission members (at-large seats)
Carlo “the Whale” Tramonti (1931–), boss, New Orleans
Charter member of the Commission
Giuseppe “Joe Z” Zaluchi (1931–), boss, Detroit
Cast of Characters
Charter member of the Commission
Salvatore “Silent Sam” Drago (1954–), boss, Tampa
Appointed to fill vacant at-large seat
John Villone (1963–), boss, Chicago
Succeeded Louie “the Face” Russo (1955–1961)
Frank “the Greek” Greco (1963–), boss, Philadelphia
Succeeded Vincent “the Jew” Forlenza, boss, Cleveland (1931–1961)
OTHER ASSOCIATES, FRIENDS, AND BUSINESS PARTNERS
Judith Epstein Buchanan: Tom Hagen’s comare
Deanna Dunn: widow of Fredo Corleone; Academy Award–winning actress
Marguerite (Rita) Duvall: dancer, actress; believed to be dating Michael Corleone
Johnny Fontane: singer and Academy Award–winning movie star
Patrick Geary: United States senator from Nevada
Fausto Dominick “Nick” Geraci, Jr.: deposed Corleone underboss Charlotte Geraci: Nick’s wife Barb and Bev Geraci: children of Nick and Charlotte
Fausto “the Driver” Geraci: Nick’s father; former cugin’ in Cleveland mob
Sid Klein: attorney; special counsel during the Red Scare; on retainer to Corleone Family
Joseph P. Lucadello (aka Ike Rosen): old friend of Michael Corleone’s; CIA operative
Ambrose “Bud” Payton: former Florida senator; now vice president
Daniel Brendan “Danny” Shea: attorney general of the United States; James’s brother
James Kavanaugh “Jimmy” Shea: president of the United States; Daniel’s brother
Ben “the Phantom” Tamarkin: attorney and fixer for the Jewish syndicate, aka the “Kosher Nostra”
Agostino “Augie the Midget” Tramonti: Carlo Tramonti’s brother and consigliere
Jack Woltz: CEO of Woltz International Pictures; former racehorse enthusiast
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
BOOK I
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
BOOK II
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
BOOK III
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
BOOK IV
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
BOOK V
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
BOOK VI
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CODA
CHAPTER 32
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PROLOGUE
Dressed in a tuxedo and his ratty old fishing hat, Fredo Corleone, who was dead, stood before his brother Michael in the middle of the dark cobblestone street in Hell’s Kitchen where they’d lived as children, a fishing rod in one hand and a naked woman on his arm. It was twilight. Fredo seemed poised between laughter and tears, which was heartbreakingly familiar. At the end of the block, the Eleventh Avenue freight train, which had long since been rerouted and dismantled, rumbled toward them but was still out of sight.
“I forgive you,” Fredo said.
Blood began to pour from a wound in the back of his head.
Michael Corleone did not know what he was seeing, but he knew it wasn’t a dream. He certainly did not believe in ghosts.
“That’s impossible,” Michael said.
Fredo laughed. “True,” he admitted. “Only God can do that, right?”
Michael, on the stoop to their apartment building, felt nailed to the spot. There was no one else around. The woman was curvy and milky white, raven-haired, a little bit sheepish about being out in public like this but also brave, the kind of woman who didn’t care too much about what other people thought.
“God,” Michael said. “Right.”
“You want to fish?” Fredo extended the rod, grinning. “Or do you want to fuck around?”
The woman stepped forward. As she moved through the mottled light, she changed into a rotting corpse, then back into Michael’s very ideal of beauty.
“Let me know, huh?” Fredo said. “Contrary to what you may think, I can set things up. I know you’re lonely. I know you’re all alone. If not this, then something. I want to help you, Mike. I want you to be happy.”
“Happy?” Michael said. “Don’t you think that’s a little childish, Fredo?”
Michael immediately regretted saying this, but Fredo didn’t seem to take offense.
The woman kissed Fredo, and he kissed her back. At the end of his fishing pole, there suddenly appeared a tuna almost as big as Fredo himself. The tuna thrashed, then began to bleed, too, as if it had been both speared and clubbed. The naked woman looked at the fish and started crying.
“I keep getting confused,” Fredo said to Michael. “Why did I have to die?”
Michael sighed. Same old Fredo, even dead, in need of explanations for things he should have understood by instinct.
“I understand revenge and all that, but what happened to me compared to what I did—it don’t exactly balance out. It makes no sense. This ain’t exactly your eye-for-an-eye justice, Mike.”
Michael shook his head sadly. “Fredo,” he whispered.
“I’m not saying I didn’t fuck up, because I did.” Fredo was still bleeding, but slower now. “Those fellas I gave that information to, Roth and Ola and them? I told ’em things not knowing how they’d use it, but, to be honest with you, what’d I tell ’em that amounted to anything? When you’d be at home? Christ. There was only one road into and out of your place in Tahoe. A goddamned babbuino could have figured out when you were home. So wh
en they tried to kill you, how was it my fault? As for the other things I told them that might’ve helped bring about peace, I understand it was wrong to go against the Family on that. But it’s also true everything that happened would’ve happened anyhow. With or without me. Right? You know I’m right. None of it hurt the organization, made it any less strong than it was. On top of which, everybody outside the Family who knew about what I did? Dead. You had ’em taken care of, every last one. The only living people who know about it are you, Hagen, and Neri—and you’re always talking about how you’d trust them two with your life. So they’re no problem, right?”
“There’s Nick Geraci.” Awake, Michael wouldn’t have said the vanished traitor’s name aloud.
Fredo slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead. Blood sprayed everywhere. “Right! I think of him as dead, but you’re right.”
“I will avenge your death. You have my word.”
“That’s comical.” He pointed to his wounded head. “Al pulled the trigger. You gave the order. You gave the order to kill Nick, too. You tried to sacrifice him, like in chess, like losing a knight or a bishop to cover up what’s really going on. Except in chess, the bishop don’t have no chance of swimming away from the discard pile and back on the board, changing its colors, and coming after you. So, sure, kill him. What choice do you have?”
The bleeding from Fredo’s wound seemed finally to have stopped. He was drenched in blood. He whispered something to the naked woman, and she nodded but kept crying.
“At the time you did this,” Fredo said to Michael, “neither one of us knew that Nick was behind it. You were certain you’d killed off everybody who knew what I’d done. What I want to know,” he said, “is who you thought would’ve held it against you if you hadn’t’ve killed me? Who’d’ve thought you were weak for showing me some mercy? Name one person.”
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