Author:Mark Winegardner
It is 1963 in New York, and things have never been better for the Corleones. They've taken out their Mafia rivals, and legitimised the Family. Outside the fortified building owned by Michael Corleone, newly undisputed Boss of Bosses, a parade of people - among them former mob rivals and an emissary from the Mayor of New York - wait to ask the great man for favours.
Only one thing remains to be done. Traitorous former Corleone capo Nick Geraci has powerful friends and far too much to say, and needs to be brought in. But then everything changes. As fireworks explode over First Avenue, news arrives that Jimmy Shea, President of the United States and an old friend of the Corleone's, has been assassinated...
Praise for The Godfather: The Lost Years
He (Winegardner) has done an excellent job and, though he is standing on the shoulders of a giant, The Lost Years is ... an improvement on its model
[The Godfather; The Lost Years] is not only a real book by a real writer. It's also a real pleasure, a fine, swirling epic - bitter, touching, funny and true ... Winegardner has not squandered his inheritance
—— New York TimesThe measure of his success is quickly apparent ... he brilliantly recreates the vivid, pungent prose style of Puzo's original
—— Daily ExpressEverything it should be. [Readers] probably won't be able to put this one down
—— Entertainment WeeklyThe story has achieved cult status with millions of fans who continue to read it
—— Library JournalPopular fiction at its best
—— The Washington PostOnly one's dreams after a champagne-fuelled night at the Follies Bergere have quite the same nightmarish-but-entertaining quality as Vargas's delightful crime novels
—— Jake Kerridge , Daily TelegraphGripping
—— Guardian[Vargas is] one of the most exciting, addictive and inventive purveyor of classy crime fiction currently pounding the publishing beat... It it a highly entertaining policier but more importantly, as with Conan Doyle, the wacky world Vargas shapes is oddly reassuring: a great remedy to a grey day
—— Christian House , Indepedent on SundayA thrilling read
—— Sunday TimesA beguiling story
—— Independent on SundayA sinister, beguiling tale that brilliantly evokes a childhood world
—— Woman and HomeBrilliant and nightmarish, this modern fairytale is beautifully written
—— Eve MagazinePhantom will maintain Jo Nesbo’s unstoppable momentum.
—— The IndependentThe king of Nordic crime – and his haunted protagonist Harry Hole – returns with this tightly plotted thriller which pitches Hole deep into the murky underworld of Oslo’s heroin market.
—— MetroJo Nesbo is at the top of his game... The must-read thriller of 2012.
—— BellaPhantom leaves us reeling, with a storyline and ending that hurts us almost as much as it hurts the protagonists... The twists and turns show Nesbo at his complicated, yet utterly accessible best, and Hole at his undeniably brilliant but self-destructive worst.
—— The ListJo Nesbo is a master of his craft. His latest novel, Phantom, is world-class crime writing. Phantom is a crime novel that pleases on every level.
—— Dagbladet (Norway)Harry Hole is back only to find that the case he wants to investigate is already closed
—— ObserverJo Nesbo has done it again with Phantom, his seventh gripping novel featuring Inspector Harry Hole... Tense and compulsive Phantom will have you jumping out of your seat
—— Hannah Britt , Daily ExpressKing of Scandinavian crime... A writer at the top of his game
—— Deirdre O’Brien , Sunday MirrorRiveting reading from page one
—— My Weekly