Originally Posted By: Turnbull
In the novel, Tom flat-out admits to himself (after Sonny's murder) that "he knew now that he was no wartime consigliere...old Genco would have smelled a rat."


TB, I've never bought the soundness of Tom's lament. As the novel makes pretty clear, the families didn't fake out the Corleones; they were beaten into submission by Sonny. It states that they decided to eliminate Sonny only because it was the only way they could "stave off complete defeat." So the lessening of their retaliatory blows was due to their inability to strike back.

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