The Last Boss (Paperback)

Twenty-eight years after publishing his best-known book, The Godfather, Mario Puzo once again delves into the underbelly of the American Mafia. In The Last Godfather, however, he blends organized crime with two other worlds he knows very well: the backstage areas of Hollywood and Las Vegas, cities he discovered over the last three decades. "I worked a lot in Hollywood and lost a lot of the money I made there in Las Vegas," explains the author of the three screenplays for The Godfather, Superman I and II, and Earthquake, good-naturedly. This book tells the saga of the last great crime family in the United States. Its patriarch, Domenico Clericuzio, is a fierce old man, determined to secure his grandchildren's future in an era of legalized gambling, investment in film, and the constant threat of government informants. He decides to create a new life for his heirs in the capitals of gambling and cinema, where legitimate fortunes are quickly made. But there are seeds of evil in the Clericuzio story, planted by the boss himself, pitting Cross de Lena, son of the family's greatest assassin, against Dante, the patriarch's grandson. Puzo creates a stunning portrait of Hollywood ("Where the real villains are," he says) and Las Vegas, with characters both noble and monstrous, to tell the story of a divided family. The novel showcases Puzo at his best: a blend of dark humor, wisdom, and epic suspense. The Last Boss is the author's most ambitious book, the result of five years of work and a lifetime dedicated to researching the major American gangs, Las Vegas, and Hollywood.