Death's Dark Abyss

August 7, 2006
Carlotto (The Goodbye Kiss
), who served time for a murder he didn't commit before becoming a writer, has crafted a subtle and disturbing tale of the effects of violence on its survivors. Wine salesman Silvano Contin's unremarkable but happy life is irrevocably shattered when a pair of bank robbers seize his wife and young son as hostages, and then execute them. Unable to endure much human contact, Contin ekes out a living repairing shoes. When the one murderer who was apprehended is diagnosed with cancer, he seeks Contin's assistance in gaining an early release from incarceration. The widower's desire for justice—and the identity of the killer who escaped scot-free—leads him to make some unusual decisions and propels him down a very dark road. The author manages to make Contin's descent into hell plausible and heartbreaking, and devises an ingenious and even touching resolution.

December 1, 2006
Carlotto (The Goodbye Kiss), the master of Mediterranean noir, has fashioned a dark, twisted tale of retribution. Fifteen years earlier, Silvano Contin's wife and only child were murdered by robbers, one of whom made off with the loot while the other got a life sentence. Now lifer and cancer-striken Raffaello Beggiato (convicted of the murders, despite his denials) seeks a pardon. Continstill tormented by his wife's dying wordsrefuses to support Beggiato's request until he sees it as a means of identifying the other robber. Sitting among his family's stored belongings, Contin talks to his dead wife about his plan, which turns increasingly dark and violent. In his laconic style, Carlottohimself imprisoned for years for a crime he didn't commitprovides twists and turns in his story, which ultimately explores the issue of justice. A disturbing, haunting novel.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.