Max Allan Collins Road to Paradise

Road to Paradise

Max Allan Collins

Morrow, Dec 2005, $24.95

ISBN: 0060540281

As a youngster named Michael O'Sullivan Jr. he fought with his father against the Chicago mob. However, he changed his name to Michael Satariano and though "legit", the fifty years old fronts for the mob as the head of the Cal-Neva Lodge and Casino in Lake Tahoe. Michael is already thinking of retirement with his beloved spouse. He loves his teenage daughter and worries about his son serving in Nam. Still life is perfect.

That changes when Sam Giancana returns from self-deployed exile in Mexico to regain his job as the Godfather regardless of cost. He orders hits and many people including innocents die. Sam demands Michael kill someone, but he refuses. When the homicide occurs, the evidence points towards Michael. The Feds cut a deal in which he testifies against Sam and will disappear with his family inside the Witness Protection Program in Paradise, Arizona. However, the past is coming for him and he must take to the road just like his dad did, one killing at a time.

This is terrific final tale that grips the audience just like the previous two novels (and movie) did. The story line starts off idyllic as the audience meets the middle age Michael, a former killing machine chip off the old block and his family. He is middle class America circa 1973. When Sam demands being anointed as king of the mob again, the action explodes leading to a High Noon climax. Max Allan Collins is at his best as completes his terrific road trilogy with a triumph and perhaps the audience can coax him into one more for the road.

Harriet Klausner