A review by nmillerche
The Family Corleone by Ed Falco

4.0

Tells the story of the rise of the Corleone crime syndicate, and lays the groundwork for The Godfather's story. The Family Corleone details the corruption/coming-of-age of Santino "Sonny" Corleone, as well as imagining the events that led to the Family's rise in New York from small beginnings among the other New York Families. One of the challenges to a good prequel is that the audience already knows where the characters need to end up by the end of the story. Falco starts these characters out far enough from that place that the journey holds interest; shortly after we meet Tom Hagen, we find that Luca Brasi (one of the Family's most loyal soldiers from The Godfather) wants to kill him, and may be going after Vito! The destination is known, but Falco is an excellent travel agent in this regard, keeping the path engaging.