I've never read The Godfather, but I've seen the movies. Not what I want to watch on a relaxing Sunday afternoon, but in a certain time and place, they're great drama. The way the relationships twist and turn, the glimpse into a world that is completely foreign -- it's captivating.
Don Winslow's City on Fire is like that. It's a novel about a battle between the Irish and Italian mobs in Providence, Rhode Island. It starts small, and then one slight by one party must be answered by the other, and it escalates, because any slight against one's honor must be met with strength. Any sign of weakness is blood in the water, and there are plenty of sharks in this tale. Some are trying to make their name, while others are just trying to skate through, just trying to survive. It's a small world, but it's all that some people know, and they're trying desperately to keep the walls from collapsing. City on Fire is hard to put down for that reason, because everything is falling apart, but when everyone you know and everyone you love is on the line, do you run and save yourself, or do you stay and fight, even if you know that you'll lose?
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