4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Puzzo's finest: Plenty of political and international intrigue., December 15, 2006
Francis Xavier Kennedy, nephew of the slain JFK/RFK has ascended the presidency due, in no small part, to his family name, his political instincts, and his near-adolescent idealisim.
During Holy Week it seems as if the world is falling apart at the seems. The Pontiff has been assasinated, and FXK's daughter has been kidnapped by Muslim extremists and then executed in cold blood.
FXK devises a response that he feels is commensurate with the crimes committed, and one that is befitting defending the honor of the most powerful nation on earth. There is one little snag; an imperial congress, motivated purely by greed,political opportunism, and a visceral hatred for the CINC,is poised to declare him non compus mentis and have him impeached.
An incident of 9/11 proportions takes place in New York that changes the entire dynamic of this political opportunism/intrigue and FXK adresses an emergency session of a join-session of Congress, and is spared the ignominy of being removed from office. Puzo's prescience here is uncanny; a nation in crisis after a terrorist event, a zealous President/Justice Department eager to preserve the Union, to the point of using draconian measures...it is all there, prophetically so. Eerie.
Puzo spins a yarn like no other. His scenarios/character; development/plots, sub-plots are woven into an exciting, breathtaking tapestry that takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride; the thrill of a lifetime. There are so many twists and turns it is likely to give a less engaged reader the literary equivalent of motion sickness. Dialogue is crisp, sometimes raw, and cynical. The stuff a poltical thriller is made of.
Some have decried this work as being a little contrived, but Puzo has a knack for tying up all of the loose ends and leaving the reader satisfied after he/she has read the novel.
A first-class piece of literature.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too much stuff going on at once, July 8, 1998
By A Customer
I enjoyed this book, but there just seemed like there was too much weird stuff going on to really believe or follow. It also seemed a little far-fetched at times. I liked the insite that Puzo gave when describing the criminals and the president of the US. I would describe this book to my friends as a decent read, but would not recommend.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing prescience, May 17, 2003
By A Customer
I gather that Puzo wrote this book long before 9/11. The narrative is spooky in that it parallels that event and the conspiracies that followed. The concern for loss of civil rights; the never ending central factor of the Israel-Palestine conflict; the bombing to rubble of a middle east capital city.
All of this, read in light of what followed, would speak to Puzo's grasp of international skulduggery, long before most of us anticipated the coming tragedies. On this basis, alone, it is well worth reading.
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