Kill the Father

October 10, 2016
Dazieri’s dazzling U.S. debut, the first in a series, introduces Deputy Capt. Colomba Caselli, a Rome police detective recuperating from major work-related PTSD, and Dante Torre, a near-incapacitated claustrophobic private consultant on missing-person cases. Caselli, who’s tough as nails but deeply injured by guilt over her role in a Paris bombing, is contemplating resigning from the police, but she feels she owes it to her boss to investigate the decapitation of a young mother and the disappearance of the woman’s
preteen son. Torre is drawn into the case because in his own youth he was held
captive for years in a silo by an unknown captor he called Father. Torre and Colomba, both driven by rage and revenge, make a convoluted descent into an abyss of child abductions, gang-related crime, government cover-ups, and international terrorism. Told in brutal, often wrenching detail, this is not an odyssey for the faint of heart. Agent: Laura Grandi, Grandi e Associati (Italy).

November 1, 2016
Dear old dad is a bit of a psychopath, and it's up to a damaged dynamic duo to stop him from committing more mayhem.In this American debut by much-published Italian novelist and screenwriter Dazieri, two sleuths join forces in Rome and set about solving one of the nastier crimes in recent memory: a woman is decapitated, and her son is spirited away by a mysterious figure. All fingers point to an obvious suspect, but Dante Torre and Colomba Caselli know better. Colomba, herself "a woman warrior who rode stallions bareback and cut her enemies' heads off with a scimitar"--figuratively, that is--has been taking time off from the metro police force after one trauma-induced panic attack too many. Dante, for his part, has himself spent time in the custody of the sinister bad guy known as The Father, who once fancied himself an in loco parentis sort of surrogate but hasn't much been heard of since escaping from the law and has "been on the loose for thirty-five years committing all kinds of foul crimes." There are twists aplenty as Dante and Colomba track down The Father, even as he spins an ever finer trap for them: there's the chance that Dante wasn't the only kidnapped boy to have gotten away from his evil warden, and then there's the presence of a creepy German guy with a tattoo that, in a nice nod to historical amnesia and modern corporatism, "depicted a small blue bird that vaguely resembled the Twitter logo." Can Dante fend off his well-earned claustrophobia and Colomba her freakouts long enough to lasso Pops before he slips away to set up psycho shop in another country? Will we ever learn what motivates The Father to his unfatherly acts? It's worth sticking with Dazieri's yarn to find out, with a plotline as involved and involving as Jean-Christophe Grange's kindred whodunit The Crimson Rivers. Though following a path well-worn by the likes of Stephen King and Stieg Larsson, a dark treat for mystery buffs.

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Starred review from December 1, 2016

Best-selling Italian author Dazieri makes his U.S. debut with this new thriller featuring two investigators who have suffered deep trauma, making it difficult for either of them to pursue a case or even trust other people. Capt. Colomba Caselli is on administrative leave following serious injuries in a horrific terrorist attack. Dante Torre was kidnapped when he was six years old and kept isolated in a concrete silo by "the father," who only gave him food and water if he was good. After 11 years Torre finally escaped and has since been trying to overcome his crippling claustrophobia by keeping his distance from people and taking a multitude of medications. Caselli and Torre are brought together when a woman is found murdered, her husband is accused of the crime, and the couple's six-year-old son goes missing. All of this sounds dangerously familiar to Torre; he is certain his old captor is back and is determined to find him before more children are harmed. VERDICT A breakout hit in Europe, this captivating novel keeps readers guessing and on edge until the final page. Fans of international crime novels will eagerly anticipate subsequent stories.--Deb West, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

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