Thanks for your generous review of The Family Corleone, especially given that the violence in the book is disturbing to you. Really, I do understand that, and I’m sympathetic. In response, though, to your question: “There are people like that loose in our society?” I’d point you to the headline on page 3 of today’s Roanoke Times: “49 headless bodies dumped on north Mexico highway.” The violence associated with the drug trade today is analogous to the violence associated with prohibition in the 30s, and much of the violence in my novel comes right out of the history of organized crime. I hope a careful reader will come away from the novel seeing the terrible consequences of a life built on a ruthless willingness to do anything, including murder, to achieve wealth and power.

Ed Falco