This book feels drawn from personal experience and quite an eye opener on the inner workings of the Italian, specifically Sicilian, family and Mafia. It seems to contain some information that only those in the inside would know. It did include very graphic and bloody parts, but it was fascinating. It’s always a source of wonder how seemingly ordinary people leading outwardly mundane lives hide an extraordinary strength and skill and pursue shockingly violent activities. It may have helped that the main character seems to belong in the top echelon of the Mafia organization. He seems to have a lot of pull, on top of having excellent physical abilities. It also helps that the book told his story from being an innocent boy all the way to being an adult who is a contract killer. It’s like a version of the neighbor next door gone bad and mad. The surprising part is that instead of condemning him for taking part in illegal activities and killing, I came to like him, understand him, and am willing to overlook the brutal nature of his professional life. I’m having a case of hero worship. It may be different if he is real. Perhaps if he was ugly and had shown a cruel and unreasonable side, I’d have been less forgiving. The bias may also have emerged from the fact that he was dealt an injustice and payback seems inevitable, and he had to survive.
The love angle toward the end is a bit surprising but good nonetheless. It emphasized the humanness of the main character. The story of the girl in South America, for me, was a little over the top, but it added some charm to the story. And the fact they got together in the end just wraps up the story and was the happy ending that every story should have.