Sins of Our Sons: Sins of Our Sons

Michael Messina, the central character of Girard's first novel Blood of Our Fathers, has resurfaced. He's married to his sweetheart Laurel, has a new baby daughter, a very important position and the respect of his peers. Sounds great, but ``Mickey Boy'' doesn't really want his job as head of New York's powerful Calabra crime family; his wife is chafing at the bit; he's being hounded by a pugnacious parole officer and (though he doesn't know it yet) a bent half-brother and a vengeful psychopath. Mickey Boy is also trying to take the family out of the dark ages and into a 21st century of legitimate business in the form of a take-out pasta franchise. A pseudonymous writer who has himself been jailed for violating the RICO act, Girard has pulled together a thoroughly readable tale filled with convincing detail and nicely interwoven subplots. The reluctant don is a hard type to convey but Girard does him well enough, and his portrayal of Freddie Falcone, the don's down-to-earth consigliere, is thoroughly appealing. The weakness is Laurel-it's very hard to imagine anyone really caring about a woman who has all the dignity of a Frederick's of Hollywood catalogue. (Jan.)