Review: Son of the Mob

Son of the Mob, written by Gordon Korman, tells the story of Vince Luca, who is also the book's narrator. Vince isn't your average high school junior. He's actually the son of notorious mob boss Anthony Luca, and he wants nothing to do with the "family business." As he tries to sort out his attempts to lead a normal life, he finds that his father's job in the "vending machine business" are continually interfering with his efforts to lead a normal life. It all comes to a boiling point when he meets and starts to date the daughter of an FBI agent - the one tasked with taking down his father.

For the good, I'll give this book one thing- Vince is a genuinely entertaining narrator. He tells his story with a sardonic honesty filled with colorful metaphors (no, not that kind). The scraps that he gets in are often good causes of laughter. I actually cracked up a few times while reading this book, like how he finds something he didn't expect in the back of his trunk, or when he teaches his mobster brother how to use the internet, with hilarious results.

On the downside though, I kind of had a little trouble buying the love story between Vince and his girlfriend, Kendra. It's made clear in the book why he's attracted to her, but there's not a whole lot given on why she's attracted to him. They just sort of start going out without much of an explanation. Also, Vince's friend, Alex, is specifically stated to be trying to vicariously trying to "score" through Vince, though I think that the book could have been a bit more subtle about it. Another thing about this book that bothered me was the lack of any real closure. It sort of just ends without explaining what happened to everybody. I know there's a sequel to this book, but it still irks me.

On the whole, this book had an interesting plot, as was the cast. It's not a great book, but it's an okay book. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone younger than thirteen, due to a few profanities. It's also not the best book on the mafia out there. It isn't even made clear whether or not Anthony Luca is a boss or a capo or what. I would have liked to see some more details in that area.

RATING: 7/10