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).

This is a textbook thriller: Police work against the clock to halt an increasing series of violent crimes. The opening, featuring a boy named Dante who is imprisoned in a silo, is unlike any other you've heard. Cassandra Campbell narrates this eerie story of a criminal known as "the Father" who returns decades later to haunt Dante and others. Campbell shows her dexterity as a narrator as she shifts between male and female characters without missing a beat. She deftly reads Italian words, names, and phrases, which lend authenticity to the overall experience. Those who enjoy listening while doing other tasks may find that this intense story demands their full attention. M.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine