The Abomination

April 15, 2013
At the start of British author Holt’s diverting debut, Katerina Tapo, an officer in the Carabinieri, races to a crime scene in the heart of Venice. High tide has washed a body with two bullet wounds in the head onto the steps of a landmark church. It’s Kat’s first murder case—a case complicated by the discovery that the victim is female and dressed in the garb of a Catholic priest. Meanwhile, at a nearby American military base, 2nd Lt. Holly Boland’s search for missing documents sets her on the scent of a mystery that compels the two women to team up. Clues to their questions are hidden at Carnivia.com, a beguiling cyber-Venice created by a rich hacker for an unknown purpose. Holt captures the allure of Venice and its creative cyber-counterpart, and creates two forceful if bland protagonists in Kat and Holly. The author gets carried away by throwing mystery on top of mystery, but, well, that’s part of the fun. Agent: Caradoc King, A.P. Watt (U.K.).

May 15, 2013

This beautifully complicated thriller, the first of a trilogy that is set primarily in Venice (both the real city and a perfect 3-D virtual re-creation), follows three protagonists as they investigate the murders of a woman dressed in priest's vestments and of another who had made a Freedom of Information request at a military base in Italy. Carabiniere captain Kat Tapo follows clues that lead first to a deserted island near Venice, once a cemetery and later the site of an asylum, where mysterious symbols match the tattoos found on the woman priest, and then to a website, Carnivia.com, where identities are hidden behind carnival masks. Holly Boland, a U.S. Army second lieutenant, unearths possible NATO involvement in illegal activities that stoked the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. And Daniele Barbo, a brilliant but mentally unsettled hacker, enters the world he created, impenetrably anonymous, in an attempt to save himself and help the two women as they face attempts to silence them forever. VERDICT A brilliant blend of fascinating story lines, serious issues, impeccable research, gripping intrigue, and engaging characters, Holt's debut is eminently satisfying from start to finish. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy intelligent thrillers (think Joseph Kanon). [See Prepub Alert, 12/13/12.]--Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2013
This remarkable debut novel starts off like a lot of Venetian crime novelsbody discovered in a canal, acqua alta getting everyone's feet wetbut we quickly sense this is no ordinary mystery. The body is a woman dressed like a priestan abomination for manyand the crime quickly leads Carabinieri captain Kat Tapo into much deeper and more treacherous waters than even a Venetian is accustomed to. When another murder victim is discovered, a connection develops between Kat's case and an investigation being conducted by an American army lieutenant, Holly Boland, who is on the trail of classified documents that could reveal CIA involvement in inciting civil war in the Balkans. Throw in a computer wizard who has created a virtual Venice, Carnivia.com, which has become a repository for every sort of secretsexual, political, religiousand you have a multistranded conspiracy thriller with plenty of pop. Think Dan Brown without the clunky prose and the pompous PhD hero but with the fascinating mix of history, paranoia, and real-live terror (drones on your tail). Holt, an advertising director in London, expertly juggles the high-concept elements of his plot with the subtle character building that quickly establishes Kat and Holly as the kind of protagonists we will follow eagerly through the projected trilogy. Only one book in, many readers will find themselves asking, Why stop at three? (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)