First there was . . .


The Godfather

"A staggering triumph. Mario Puzo has achieved the definitive novel about a sinister fraternity of crime." ---Saturday Review


Then there was . . .


The Last Don

"Head-long entertainment, bubbling over with corruption, betrayal, assassinations, Richter-scale romance, and, of course, family values."
---Time


Now prepare to take the vow of your life . . .


Omerta

"Pop entertainment at its best . . . .The final volume of Puzo's sensationally popular Mafia trilogy, completed shortly before his recent death, explores in characteristically slam-bang fashion the consequences of a violation of the Sicilian 'code of silence' (omerta) on which Mafia security and power are based. . . . A fabulously plotted crossfire of intrigue, betrayal and murder."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"A splendid piece of crime fiction....Through it all, Puzo keeps the heat on and keeps the reader enthralled with his characters and his story. He was the consummate pro and he knew his subject like no one before him. Omerta is a fitting cap to a tremendous career."--The Denver Post

"In Omerta, Puzo cements his reputation as a page-turning storyteller. And on many a beach or poolside this summer, readers will run the risk of sunburn because Omerta will have grabbed their imaginations, makng them forget it was time for more tanning butter...Let us end with the hope that maybe Francis Ford Coppola might somehow craft Omerta into the real finale to his cinematic Mafia threesome."--Detroit Free Press

"Omerta is great fun to read, the perfect summer novel...full of action and invention, written in the high earnestness and wicked playfullness of Puzo's best style. With sly intent, he recasts some of the themes and devices from his earlier novels...The dialogue, always a high point in Puzo's books, is crisp and deadpan caustic."--The Trenton Times

"This is pulp raised to art and a worthy memorial to the author, who one last time makes readers an offer they can't refuse."--Publishers Weekly (starred)

First came "The Godfather", then "The Last Don". Now prepare for the final chapter in Puzo's Mafia trilogy about power and morality in America. "Omerta", from the Italian word for "code of silence", is a powerful epitaph for the Mafia at the century's end and a final triumph for a great American storyteller.

Mario Puzo was born in New York and, following military service in World War II, attended New York's New School for Social Research and Columbia University. His bestselling novel The Godfather, (1969) was preceded by two critically acclaimed novels, The Dark Arena (1955) and The Fortunate Pilgrim (1965). In 1978, he published Fools Die, followed by The Sicilian (1984), The Fourth K (1990), and the second installment in his Mafia trilogy, The Last Don (1996), which became an international bestseller and the highest-rated TV miniseries of 1997.

Mario Puzo also wrote many screenplays, including those for Earthquake, Superman, and all three Godfather movies, for which he received two Academy Awards. He died in July 1999 at his home on Long Island, New York, at the age of seventy-eight.