Kill the Angel

December 4, 2017
Chapter one of Dazieri’s disappointing sequel to 2017’s well-received Kill the Father opens with an arresting sentence: “Death arrived in Rome at ten minutes to midnight aboard a high-speed train from Milan.” Colomba Caselli, deputy chief of the city’s homicide squad, is called to Termini Station after a grim discovery—all the passengers in the train’s first-class car are dead, victims of a bioweapon. Colomba joins a massive manhunt for the men claiming responsibility in the name of ISIS. Her skepticism that ISIS is behind the attack is bolstered by insights from private consultant Dante Torre. The reader, however, is ahead of the leads, due to a grim prologue featuring prisoners confined to a concrete cube, including a 13-year-old referred to as “the Girl,” who survives torture only to get the upper hand on their captors. Genre veterans will be wondering when this teaser will bear fruit, and when it does, the payoff isn’t particularly interesting. Hopefully, Dazieri will return to form next time. Agent: Laura Grandi, Grandi e Associati (Italy).

In the prologue of the second book in Dazieri's series, narrator Cassandra Campbell introduces three people who are imprisoned in a concrete silo, one of them called "the girl." Years later, a lethal gas massacre takes place on a high-speed train, with ISIS claiming responsibility and threatening more to come. Enter Colomba Casselli, Rome's deputy police commissioner, and her eccentric partner, Dante Torre, who both think something about the ISIS connection is off. Campbell is inimitable delivering Dante's idiosyncrasies. Her Colomba is compelling as she worries about the conflict between protecting her career and following her instinct. Campbell proves an incomparable guide, although the story's breathtaking climax circles back to KILL THE FATHER (2017), so listeners may wish start at the beginning for full enjoyment. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine