Ryan DeJonghe - The Avid Reader

I love when I’m wrong. Today a whole bunch of books released that I’m doing reviews for. I’ve had them organized, mainly by initial interest. Another mafia book? Yeah, we’ll just chuck that on the bottom under the self-help books. I mean, really, what interest could there be in another mafia book? Like I said, I love it when I’m wrong.

THE WOLF by Lorenzo Carcaterra is the best mafia book I’ve read since THE GODFATHER. I freakin’ loved that book. And, I freakin’ love this book. It’s a bit unbelievable, but hey, it’s fun as hell. Come on…don’t look at me like that. I know, I know, all the mafia families in the world would never join forces to work as one, especially when they are fighting all the Russian mafia, who happen to be working with all the terrorist organizations of the world. But, hey, here it works. Kind of like a season of 24. THE WOLF is written well, it’s exciting, and like I said, fun as hell.

Carcaterra alternates the chapters mainly between the first person perspective of the “good guy” mafia leader (AKA “The Wolf”) and the third person perspective of the Russians. Right out of the gates, you have action. We, as the audience, are treated to a picturesque European vacation spot with lots of tourists and locals, dining and enjoying the weather, and then…BOOM. Next chapter, we get “The Wolf” telling us how he organized all the mafias into one, how he owns all of us from cradle to grave, including the grave and casket itself, and then…SLASH, BOOM, BANG. Almost all of The Wolf’s family is dead. You know what that means.

Seriously, I haven’t been this entertained by a mafia book in a long, long time. And the good news? Carcaterra leaves it open in the epilogue: The Wolf is coming back.