Against the sweeping backdrop of western Sicily, in a riveting seven-year quest, Frank Viviano pieces together his own harrowing ancestral history of betrayal and redemption. His tale is haunted, from its violent opening to its stunning climax, by an ancient Sicilian proverb, Lu sangu lava lu sangu, "Blood washes blood": the torrent of unforgiving vengeance that flows from an unforgivable offense.

Viviano's great-great-grandfather was a legendary bandit who traveled the countryside of Sicily by night in the robes of a friar and was Known as "the Monk." His brutal murder has remained shrouded in mystery for four generations. Until now.

and twentieth-century underworld bosses, here is a true-life Godfather, in which past and present finally merge into a single story with a shattering climax that ultimately changes the way the author views his immigrant family's complex legacy--and himself.

Prologue

PART I

A Stranger in the Village

The System

Mike

An Old Man's Riddle

Ano in the Desert

PART II

A Map

The Red Sash

The Monk

The Saint and the Beast

A Burglary at Paternella

Dark Franky

The Frenchman's Palace

Risorgimento

A Parable

Death on a Country Lane

PART III

The Bandit Kingdom

Fable of the Chickpea

Antonina Randazzo

Festival of Bachelors

A Parallel Universe

PART IV

Family Portrait

"Mafia"

Domenico Valenti

A Secret Life

Blood Washes Blood

Quattro Vanelle

Epilogue

Acknowledgments