Mile High

I read both at the same time (The Godfather & Mile High). I passed the Godfather one along at that time. It got all the press. Yet many, many years later this is the one that sticks to my gut. It hits hard at the truth -in fiction form. Because, quite frankly, thats the only way it could be told. Nothing has changed. A Must Read.

Richard Condon's "Mile High" is one of the smartest, most exciting thrillers in the entire canon of American popular fiction. It was published the same year as Mario Puzo's "The Godfather." Both books feature a mafia leader known as Don Vito (interestingly, each book also has a minor character named Coppolla). There are numerous similarities between Puzo's book and Condon's, but Condon's is definitely the more intelligent and ambitious of the two. The story hits upon many of the highlights (or, perhaps, lowlights) of American history: slavery, Prohibition, the Great Depression, McCarthyism, etc. The book starts out like a runaway train, and concludes with one of the most gripping showdowns in print. There is about a 100-page stretch early in the book where Condon slows his plot down with excessive detail about the family business that is at the core of this superthriller. But from about page 200 onward, the novel is as inescapable as car careening through the loops and lifts of really devious roller-coaster.

I defy eny reader of this book to conclude that it is a novel or a non-fiction work.It is absolutely breath taking - I couldn't put it down. A terrific read. I found it in a library in Palm Springs. If you can find a copy, it will be worth your time!