I read this book and I have to say that I didn't like it at all. Mostly because it falls short in comparison to The Godfather. Puzo created great characters but they seem to lack the cunning and the ruthlessnes of the characters in his previous Mafia novels.
Also, none of the stories told in the book have the chilliness of those we read about in The Godfather. And the subplot involving the black corrupted police officer wasn't written convincingly enough. It was almost as if the story was told too fast without the usual Puzo's brilliance for description. So i want know what could have been done to improve the book in your point of view?

***SPOILER***

Personally, I thought Astorre was almost too squeaky clean. Yeah, I know he was in on the hits of Don Aprile's assassins personally and all, but there was just something about the way Puzo painted him. Like he was a superhero-wiseguy or something. Slightly too unrealistic for my taste. Conversely, Aspinella seemed a little too vicious, hardly a female character trait in most of Puzo's books (or the few I've read). But overall, I liked Omerta. No, nowhere near on par with The Godfather, but still a good read. I might've just tweaked a character here and there for improvement.
(BTW, welcome Machiavelli! Excellent post!)

Welcome Machiavelli to the best Godfather/{uzo BB on the Internet. You do have an interesting question. I thought Omerta was good and it doesn't come close to The Godfather (but what book is right?). Maybe the book could have been better in terms of story telling (the twists, every great film or book has one). The story was simple (again compared to the subplots/myriad of characters of The Godfather) and I have to agree with Snake that Astorre was a bit too perfect. On a positive side its nice to see the main character perform some action (instead of oredering people all the time). Enjoy yours stay here and happy posting.