The Godfather (Paperback) | thriller books

That seems to do the trick. A gangster named Sollozzo tries to rope Don and his political connections into a dope-dealing scheme with the rival Tattaglia family. But the Don refuses. (Like ya do.) And since we’re in a mob movie, this leads to a near-fatal assassination attempt on Don Corleone and the murder of his trusted hit man, Luca Brasi. So Sonny becomes the acting Don, while Michael defends the Godfather from a second assassination attempt. It’s hard out there for a mob boss, eh?
Next up, Michael murders Sollozzo and a corrupt cop, Captain McCluskey, at an Italian restaurant. Mmmm…spaghetti and blood balls.
Since he just, you know, murdered two guys in cold blood, Michael flees to Sicily, where he marries a young Sicilian woman named Apollonia. Back in New York, all five of the major mafia families (Corleones included) go to war. But tragedy strikes on both continents: a car bomb intended for Michael ends up killing Apollonia, and Sonny is assassinated at a toll-booth (partly thanks to the conniving, wife-beating Carlo, his sister’s husband).
So far so bad. The Don is forced to sign a truce with the Tattaglias and agree to their drug scheme, while Michael is able to return to America. Don Corleone realizes that another Don, Barzini, was the real mastermind behind the assassination attempts against him. Nothing like a little Don vs. Don scheming.