Inherit the Mob

In an outrageous comic send-up of Mafia genre novels, William Gordon, sardonic foreign correspondent for a New York City paper, returns home to claim the inheritance left by his dead uncle, Mafia kingpin Max Grossman. Gordon, who's in love with a lesbian actress, can collect his share of half a billion dollars only if he serves a stint as ``foreign minister'' for ruthless, elegant Mafia don Luigi Spadafore. But when two hit men enter the picture, Gordon and his hard-drinking journalist cohort John Farrell, who fearlessly insults the Mafia sleazeballs, want out. Enter Gordon's domineering, retired father, Albert, who enlists the services of seven of his former associates from the Jewish branch of the mob. They launch a counteroffensive, complete with 419 pepperoni pizzas, to extricate the errant son. Chafets ( Devils' Night and Other True Tales of Detroit ) zestfully deploys witty dialogue and off-the-wall characters in this fast, funny caper. (July)