Road to Paradise » (Unabridged)

Max Allan Collins is the author of the Shamus Award-winning Nathan Heller historical thrillers. His other books include the New York Times bestseller Saving Private Ryan and the USA Today bestselling CSI series. His comics writing ranges from the graphic novel Road to Perdition, source of the Tom Hanks film, to long runs as scripter of the Dick Tracy comic strip and his own innovative Ms. Tree. Collins is also a screenwriter and a leading indie filmmaker in his native Iowa, where he lives with his wife, writer Barbara Collins, and their son, Nathan.

Lake Tahoe, 1973: Michael Satariano, who as a young man fought the Capone mob in Chicago, has reached a comfortable middle age, with a loving wife at home, a talented teenage daughter in high school, and a son earning medals in Vietnam. Now running a casino for the mob, Michael thinks he's put his killing days behind him. After all, he's made a respectable life for himself and his family and plenty of money for the boys back in Chicago. So when godfather Sam Giancana orders him to hit a notoriously violent gangster, Michael refuses. But when the hit goes down anyway, Michael is framed for murder. Now, to save his family, he must turn state's witness under the fledgling Witness Protection Program.

Publishers Weekly

Shamus Award-winner Collins concludes his Road series (after Road to Purgatory) with a gripping, blood-soaked journey down memory lane. It's 1973, and 50-year-old Michael O'Sullivan Jr., the young boy orphaned in Road to Perdition, has Italianized his name to Michael Satariano and is boss and squeaky-clean mob frontman of the Cal-Neva Lodge and Casino at Lake Tahoe. Though a "made man" and official member of Chicago's Cosa Nostra family, he plans to work a few more years at Cal-Neva before retiring with his beautiful wife and teenage daughter to a life of legitimacy. But simple plans like Michael's fare poorly when thrust against the gritty realities of the mob. When Sam Giancana decides to end his exile in Mexico and reclaim his former position as Godfather, hits are ordered, mistakes are made and many people die, some of them quite close to Michael. He's now on the run, forced to relive his father's vengeance-fueled crime spree of 40 years earlier. While a slightly less profligate killer than Michael Sr., he's just as efficient and just as deadly. Collins's compelling mix of history, bloodshed and retribution is as irresistible as Sam Giancana's last meal of fried sausage, spinach and ceci beans. Readers will eat it up and beg for more. (Dec.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.