A scion of the powerful D'Angelo crime family, Michael D'Angelo is groomed for success in the world of crime, becoming a "made man" at the age of eighteen as he rises through the ranks to take on the role of his ruthless, ambitious father.
This was an interesting novel in that the author, Michael Gambino, presented himself as a real life mobster and portrayed the novel as if he were fictionalizing his real life experiences, only to find out later that he was a complete fraud and wasn’t connected at all. Fraudulent or not fraudulent, the simple fact is that the guy can’t write. As a fellow writer, it pains me to see such dreadful prose being published by a major publishing house. The other thing is that book reads like a memoir, and doesn’t work at all as a fictionalized novel. Also, the novel just doesn’t ring true. You don’t have to be part of the Mafia to write a good mobster novel, but this guy just didn’t portray mob life well. Although entertaining in parts and somewhat memorable, this was not a good novel. I would advise skipping it.