What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fourth K
A PRESIDENTIAL DYNASTY. AN ARAB TERRORIST ATTACK. DEMOCRACY UNDER SIEGE. Mario Puzo envisioned it all in his eerily prescient 1991 novel, The Fourth K. President Francis Xavier Kennedy is elected to office, in large part, thanks to the legacy of his forebears– good looks, privilege, wealth–and is the very embodiment of youthful optimism. Too soon, however, he is beaten down by the political process and, disabused of his ideals, he becomes a leader totally unlike what he has been before. When his daughter becomes a pawn in a brutal terrorist plot, Kennedy, who has obsessively kept alive the memory of his uncles’ assassinations, activates all his power to retaliate in a series of violent measures. As the explosive events unfold, the world and those closest to him look on with both awe and horror.
497 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1990
365 people are currently reading
2451 people want to read
About the author
Mario Puzo
156 books4,869 followersPuzo was born in a poor family of Neapolitan immigrants living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York. Many of his books draw heavily on this heritage. After graduating from the City College of New York, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Due to his poor eyesight, the military did not let him undertake combat duties but made him a public relations officer stationed in Germany. In 1950, his first short story, The Last Christmas, was published in American Vanguard. After the war, he wrote his first book, The Dark Arena, which was published in 1955.
At periods in the 1950s and early 1960s, Puzo worked as a writer/editor for publisher Martin Goodman's Magazine Management Company. Puzo, along with other writers like Bruce Jay Friedman, worked for the company line of men's magazines, pulp titles like Male, True Action, and Swank. Under the pseudonym Mario Cleri, Puzo wrote World War II adventure features for True Action.
Puzo's most famous work, The Godfather, was first published in 1969 after he had heard anecdotes about Mafia organizations during his time in pulp journalism. He later said in an interview with Larry King that his principal motivation was to make money. He had already, after all, written two books that had received great reviews, yet had not amounted to much. As a government clerk with five children, he was looking to write something that would appeal to the masses. With a number one bestseller for months on the New York Times Best Seller List, Mario Puzo had found his target audience. The book was later developed into the film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie received 11 Academy Award nominations, winning three, including an Oscar for Puzo for Best Adapted Screenplay. Coppola and Puzo collaborated then to work on sequels to the original film, The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III.
Puzo wrote the first draft of the script for the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, which he was unable to continue working on due to his commitment to The Godfather Part II. Puzo also co-wrote Richard Donner's Superman and the original draft for Superman II. He also collaborated on the stories for the 1982 film A Time to Die and the 1984 Francis Ford Coppola film The Cotton Club.
Puzo never saw the publication of his penultimate book, Omertà, but the manuscript was finished before his death, as was the manuscript for The Family. However, in a review originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Jules Siegel, who had worked closely with Puzo at Magazine Management Company, speculated that Omertà may have been completed by "some talentless hack." Siegel also acknowledges the temptation to "rationalize avoiding what is probably the correct analysis -- that [Puzo] wrote it and it is terrible."
Puzo died of heart failure on July 2, 1999 at his home in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York. His family now lives in East Islip, New York.
At periods in the 1950s and early 1960s, Puzo worked as a writer/editor for publisher Martin Goodman's Magazine Management Company. Puzo, along with other writers like Bruce Jay Friedman, worked for the company line of men's magazines, pulp titles like Male, True Action, and Swank. Under the pseudonym Mario Cleri, Puzo wrote World War II adventure features for True Action.
Puzo's most famous work, The Godfather, was first published in 1969 after he had heard anecdotes about Mafia organizations during his time in pulp journalism. He later said in an interview with Larry King that his principal motivation was to make money. He had already, after all, written two books that had received great reviews, yet had not amounted to much. As a government clerk with five children, he was looking to write something that would appeal to the masses. With a number one bestseller for months on the New York Times Best Seller List, Mario Puzo had found his target audience. The book was later developed into the film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie received 11 Academy Award nominations, winning three, including an Oscar for Puzo for Best Adapted Screenplay. Coppola and Puzo collaborated then to work on sequels to the original film, The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III.
Puzo wrote the first draft of the script for the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, which he was unable to continue working on due to his commitment to The Godfather Part II. Puzo also co-wrote Richard Donner's Superman and the original draft for Superman II. He also collaborated on the stories for the 1982 film A Time to Die and the 1984 Francis Ford Coppola film The Cotton Club.
Puzo never saw the publication of his penultimate book, Omertà, but the manuscript was finished before his death, as was the manuscript for The Family. However, in a review originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Jules Siegel, who had worked closely with Puzo at Magazine Management Company, speculated that Omertà may have been completed by "some talentless hack." Siegel also acknowledges the temptation to "rationalize avoiding what is probably the correct analysis -- that [Puzo] wrote it and it is terrible."
Puzo died of heart failure on July 2, 1999 at his home in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York. His family now lives in East Islip, New York.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 173 reviews
August 3, 2010
What a mess. Extremely weak writing, a profusion of superfluous ancillary characters, and every plot device ever known to writers of political thrillers thrown in: terrorism both foreign and domestic, hijacking, hostage-taking, murder, the Pope, assassination, presidential impeachment, martial law, retaliatory bombing of an oil-rich Persian gulf nation, a nuclear bomb, a secret cabal of billionaire industrialists.
On top of this deranged layer cake are squeezed an aspiring Hollywood screenwriter, a sexually humiliated female movie producer, a president who wants universal healthcare and strong regulation of industry but also work camps for criminals in Alaska, Mormon angel pants. Martial law is declared but then never again mentioned. Puzo writes about impeachment as if by itself it removes a President; it doesn't. Impeachment is done by the House and must be followed by a Senate vote which either convicts or acquits. The Fourth K seems to be written by a computer program randomly auto-generating plotlines, or else someone with a terrible case of ADHD.
On top of this deranged layer cake are squeezed an aspiring Hollywood screenwriter, a sexually humiliated female movie producer, a president who wants universal healthcare and strong regulation of industry but also work camps for criminals in Alaska, Mormon angel pants. Martial law is declared but then never again mentioned. Puzo writes about impeachment as if by itself it removes a President; it doesn't. Impeachment is done by the House and must be followed by a Senate vote which either convicts or acquits. The Fourth K seems to be written by a computer program randomly auto-generating plotlines, or else someone with a terrible case of ADHD.
August 25, 2024
Rezi braucht noch etwas Zeit. Auf 5* aufgerundet.
December 1, 2019
تخصص جناب آقای استاد ماریو پوزو در نوشتن رمان هایی با ریشه های ایتالیایی ( ترجیحا جنوب آن ) و روابط مافیایی و گانگستری با تکیه بر بنیان خانواده و اهمیت آن و البته ضرب المثل های ناب ایتالیایی ایست . در حقیقت مجموعه این عوامل باعث غنای رمان های استاد شده و در هریک از آنها نکاتی برای یادگرفتن و لذت بردن وجود دارد .
اما در کتاب کندی چهارم استاد به صورت کامل از ریشه و تبار ایتالیایی خود دورشده ، کتاب چیزی در مایه های فیلم نامه های اکشن هالیوود یا کتاب های دن براون هستش . نه شخصیت ها درست ساخته شده اند ، نه دلایل کارهای آنها معلوم است ! یک سری شخصیت در دولت آمریکا جمع شده اند که آماده انجام هر شری را دارند ، بدون این که خواننده متوجه شود که این ریشه های شر در آنها به کجا باز می گردد . رئیس جمهوری که استاد ترسیم کرده به قدری شرور و مخوف است که هیولایی مانند ترامپ در برابر آن شوخی به نظر می رسد .
. به هر روی در شرایط سخت روزهای کنونی این کتاب فاقد هرگونه اثرگذاری لازم است و خواننده فقط لحظه شماری می کند تا خواندن آن تمام شود
اما در کتاب کندی چهارم استاد به صورت کامل از ریشه و تبار ایتالیایی خود دورشده ، کتاب چیزی در مایه های فیلم نامه های اکشن هالیوود یا کتاب های دن براون هستش . نه شخصیت ها درست ساخته شده اند ، نه دلایل کارهای آنها معلوم است ! یک سری شخصیت در دولت آمریکا جمع شده اند که آماده انجام هر شری را دارند ، بدون این که خواننده متوجه شود که این ریشه های شر در آنها به کجا باز می گردد . رئیس جمهوری که استاد ترسیم کرده به قدری شرور و مخوف است که هیولایی مانند ترامپ در برابر آن شوخی به نظر می رسد .
. به هر روی در شرایط سخت روزهای کنونی این کتاب فاقد هرگونه اثرگذاری لازم است و خواننده فقط لحظه شماری می کند تا خواندن آن تمام شود
September 25, 2011
Mario Puzo can magically weave a collection of short stories into one complete journey of conspiracy and politics. A plot enriched with subplots that enhances the main story and build to an exciting and stisfying climax. Enough said
October 16, 2008
Love this book. One of my favorites. Puzo's writing style - incredible.
May 11, 2018
A nice little political thriller exploring the morals and conviction of those who suppose to rule. Done with the same great prose and writing style of Puzo’s Mafia stories.
December 19, 2013
This book is nowhere near as good as the Godfather, but it is the epitome of Puzo. He may be famous for dealing with Italian Americans/mafia/etc, but those are just familiar back drops for him to use while he writes about power and manipulation. This is the ultimate story of power. You think Michael Corleone knew how to get things done, just wait until the POTUS gets fed up with terrorists (due largely to an accumulation of tragedy in his life) and decides to go all 'murica on everyone's ass.
This book is awesome. Casually starts out with the assassination of the Pope and only gets crazier from there. Puzo throws in kidnapping the presidents daughter, hiding an atomic bomb in NYC, destroying middle eastern oil producing cities/countries, and the US teetering on the edge of becoming a dictatorship. The story follows the white house, congress, and a group of the most powerful men in America while they do everything in their power to accomplish what they think is best for the country (LOL, no politician cares about anything other than him/herself).
This book is awesome. Casually starts out with the assassination of the Pope and only gets crazier from there. Puzo throws in kidnapping the presidents daughter, hiding an atomic bomb in NYC, destroying middle eastern oil producing cities/countries, and the US teetering on the edge of becoming a dictatorship. The story follows the white house, congress, and a group of the most powerful men in America while they do everything in their power to accomplish what they think is best for the country (LOL, no politician cares about anything other than him/herself).
June 27, 2011
The characters are intelligently brought to life. The series of events were not dull at all although it takes you to many circumstances in the book. It's a good read if you really have the time not to miss any happenings and if you remember the numerous characters. I'd vote for this to be a movie.
June 6, 2025
Puzo did it again. I truly don't think I'll ever not be absolutely obsessed with one of his books.
April 9, 2012
Excellent fiction that is not entirely unlikely to become reality. Within the great plot he placed the greatest fears of contemporary mankind and blows all that away by a single man's chance.
September 3, 2023
quick! let’s all play a game of ‘this aged badly’ bingo
January 18, 2011
This was a third book by Mario Puzo I read during high school. He really influenced my writing at the time. I havn't read it in so long but I also read it 2 or 3 times. A really good book with a lot of different characters. I loved it at the time.
July 25, 2011
In my all time top 3. Scarring to imagine that a president would really go that far! Well, use you imagination. And so Puzo did!
November 27, 2015
I don't know, I felt this book was ominous and contained tons of foreboding about things to come and the scary thing is, some of them did. Not sure how I feel about this one.
January 21, 2025
Ein intelligenter, facettenreicher Politthriller mit vielseitigen Charakteren und einer ganzen Bandbreite von Intrigen. Spannend von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite.
April 27, 2017
Turns out that Mario Puzo (God rest his soul) could write about American political families (in this case, a fictitious member of the Kennedy dynasty) every bit as well as he could write about Mafia families, which is to say, very well indeed. This book kept the pages turning, with nary a dull moment, and many insightful quotes about Washington politics.
RANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS:
--p. 8: America "had only intellectual revolutionaries who fainted at the sight of blood. Who exploded their bombs in empty buildings after warning people to leave;" um, apparently this "Romeo" character never heard of the Weather Underground, the SDS, or the SLA.
--p. 10: "Romeo, a true ascetic, could live in shit."
Aahh, looks like Yabril is a "champagne socialist." Or at least a Bon Vivant revolutionary.
--p. 18: Hmmm, wouldn't the U.S. Secret Service have a serious problem with this campus assassination game??
--p. 20: Ah, okay, that answers my previous question from p. 18.
Hey, a "dirty bomb" (even if the term may not actually have been used by the author or been in vogue at the time of writing)...
--p. 27: "'Our army is fifty percent under quota, we've educated our kids so well they're too smart to be patriotic.'" Meh, overeducated fools.
--pp. 27-29: Wow, a whole Presidential brain trust of limousine liberals.
--p. 32: Aahh, smoking a Cuban cigar, just like his famous Presidential Uncle Jack, bravo!
--p. 34: "And the Pope was certainly a symbol of capitalism;" obviously with Pope Francis, life no longer imitates art!
--p. 47: "The conservative Republican press...." What, all two or three of them?
--p. 63: "'Wives can be dangerous to men with real ambition, children are the very breeding grounds of tragedy.'" Ouch!!
--p. 69: "The Oracle had never used bad language until he was ninety, so now he used it an innocently as a child." Haha.
--p. 70: "'A man without a vice? A sailing ship without a sail." Yep, especially for a Kennedy!!
--p. 79: "America was a land of lawyers who were as fearsome as the Knights of the Round Table." Classic.
--p. 138: "The rich in America, without a doubt, are more socially conscious than the rich in any other country of the world."
--p. 139: the Socrates Club; inspired by the real-life Bohemian Grove by any chance?
--p. 162: "She would be another Modred." Or another Morgan LeFay perhaps?
--p. 172: Haha, "incestuous social environment" of Capitol Hill, haha!
--p. 198: "protestations of goodwill and affection that were political good manners long before the murder of Julius Caesar."
"The marvelous thing about being a successful politician was that old age could be as happy as your youth. Even when you became a doddering old man, your brain floating away in a flood of senile cells, everyone still respected you, listened to you, kissed your ass."
--p. 215: "The media were sanctified criminals who robbed institutions and private citizens of their good name." Yeah, pretty much.
--p. 224: "It was the magical speaking voice with the music of the great Irish poets." Erin Go Bragh, laddie.
--p. 234: "'Fucking New York,' he said. 'I hope all the cabdrivers got killed.'" Haha, ouch!!
--p. 264: "Ten-Mile Mormon," haha.
May 17, 2012
Fantastic; better than the Godfather series - definitely could relate to this one more as a modern day drama - but really...leave the Kennedy clan alone!
May 2, 2012
A real page turner. I enjoyed the book very much.
June 12, 2012
Great political story! Actually my favorite book by Puzo. combine family, friendship, current happenings under a political and international umbrella. A must read!
March 13, 2021
Francis Xavier Kennedy is having a bad Easter week as President. How bad? The Pope is assassinated, his daughter is kidnapped by terrorists, and an atomic bomb is hidden somewhere in Times Square. A thriller lacking thrills, but so outre one continues reading until the completely predictable climax. A somewhat lame attempt to continue, fictionally, the Kennedy mythology. One can now applaud Puzo's prescience though. The book, published in 1990, has a female Vice-President.
March 9, 2023
Klasyczny thriller polityczny, zabójstwo papieża, porwanie córki prezydenta USA i groźba detonacji miniaturowej bomby atomowej. Wszystko to w oparach politycznych rozgrywek i brudów. Mimo upływu 30 lat od pierwszego wydania książka nie straciła na aktualności. Temat ponadczasowy.
September 12, 2013
***1/2
Mario Puzo's "The Fourth K," one of his least commercially successful novels, is a bit of what-if fiction, in this case, What if another Kennedy became President?
The book suggests a setting roughly around the time of its writing (early 90's). It incorporates some (fictional) history but doesn't spend a lot of time bringing the reader up to date on its alternate history; we're more or less shoved into the story right away. And it's a grim one involving the assassination of the Pope and the kidnapping of President Xavier Kennedy's daughter, along with a possible nuclear bomb detonation in NY--and are these three things the work of the same terrorists, or different groups?
We get to know President Kennedy, his vice president, and staff. We also get some behind the scenes details on a group of old men who own about half the country and get together on weekend retreats to decide what advice to give the President. And we get in the heads of the terrorists to some extent.
Some characters seem to be leads but are then dropped from the narrative, appearing later on. The president himself is a strange character, and it's hard to get a handle on him. He never seems particularly sympathetic, and in some ways he acts downright robotic. I wonder if Puzo, who could have easily written the same story without the alternate history angle, chose a Kennedy, albeit a fake one, as his protagonist, in order to give the reader an idea of his likability and acceptability before reading the first page.
I wish some characters got some more page time (there's a particularly wonderful chapter midway through the novel, about a young man getting into the movie business, and his infatuation with an upper level producer), but "The Fourth K" is a more than serviceable thriller.
Mario Puzo's "The Fourth K," one of his least commercially successful novels, is a bit of what-if fiction, in this case, What if another Kennedy became President?
The book suggests a setting roughly around the time of its writing (early 90's). It incorporates some (fictional) history but doesn't spend a lot of time bringing the reader up to date on its alternate history; we're more or less shoved into the story right away. And it's a grim one involving the assassination of the Pope and the kidnapping of President Xavier Kennedy's daughter, along with a possible nuclear bomb detonation in NY--and are these three things the work of the same terrorists, or different groups?
We get to know President Kennedy, his vice president, and staff. We also get some behind the scenes details on a group of old men who own about half the country and get together on weekend retreats to decide what advice to give the President. And we get in the heads of the terrorists to some extent.
Some characters seem to be leads but are then dropped from the narrative, appearing later on. The president himself is a strange character, and it's hard to get a handle on him. He never seems particularly sympathetic, and in some ways he acts downright robotic. I wonder if Puzo, who could have easily written the same story without the alternate history angle, chose a Kennedy, albeit a fake one, as his protagonist, in order to give the reader an idea of his likability and acceptability before reading the first page.
I wish some characters got some more page time (there's a particularly wonderful chapter midway through the novel, about a young man getting into the movie business, and his infatuation with an upper level producer), but "The Fourth K" is a more than serviceable thriller.
July 14, 2022
I've read most of Puzo's novels; this one is not as strong as his better-known works. It has too many characters, too many subplots, and is a bit superficial in its detail. But it's quite readable and generally very entertaining. Like most (all?) of Puzo's works, The Fourth K is an exploration of power, crime, and family dynamics. In this case it focuses on late-twentieth century politics in the United States and (a fictional version of) the Middle East. Some of the events in the story predict later real-life events (e.g., a terrorist attack in NYC, an oil-related war in the Middle East, etc.) so it's a bit spooky in that regard.
March 24, 2007
I love Puzo's work. I realize that not everyone goes for blood and gore and huge twists. If you do, though, Puzo is great.
October 16, 2008
Amazing plot and extremely easy reading.
October 21, 2011
One of the best books I have ever read but the story ended not the way I think.
May 2, 2012
Loved this!!
May 17, 2013
Not great but interesting
July 31, 2017
For everyone interested to know about the dynamics of American politics, especially the process of impeachment for an American President, the political masterpiece from Puzo is a delight with a heavy dose of irony. Alas! Existential reality!
Read
October 3, 2021I didn’t actually finish this book, it bored me shitless so I DNF’d it. Maybe I’ll revisit it but Jesus Christ it stunk.
It started really well, and after about 100 pages it turned into a shitty little political drama and not the suspenseful terrorist stuff that I was enjoying.
I’m not gonna give it a rating until/if I ever finish it.
It started really well, and after about 100 pages it turned into a shitty little political drama and not the suspenseful terrorist stuff that I was enjoying.
I’m not gonna give it a rating until/if I ever finish it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 173 reviews