No Mortal Thing

June 12, 2017
Bernardo Cancello, the 74-year-old mob boss at the center of this labyrinthine thriller from Edgar-finalist Seymour (Vagabond), rules a clan that’s part of the ’Ndrangheta crime association in Calabria. Bernardo is worth more than €400 million, but to escape detection from the authorities he has to sleep in an underground shipping container in his backyard. The opposite of Marlon Brando’s noble godfather of film fame, the violent, ruthless Bernardo is grooming his grandson, Marcantonio, to take over the family business. After Marcantonio commits several brutal murders, he goes to Berlin to escape any ensuing investigation. In an upscale Berlin neighborhood, Marcantonio beats up a defiant teenage girl, an employee of a pizzeria he was trying to shake down. Watching is Jago Browne, a 26-year-old merchant banker from London. Jago’s impulsive decision to devote himself to avenging the assault leads to more trouble. Seymour successfully juggles the large cast and many subplots, though a confusing ending comes as a letdown to this otherwise engrossing saga. Agent: Jonathan Lloyd, Curtis Brown (U.K.).

June 1, 2017
Now well into his seventies, Seymour keeps producing big novels peopled by large casts of conflicted characters. This time, he focuses on the 'Ndrangheta crime families in the Calabria region of southern Italy. As always with Seymour, his story has many moving parts. Marcantonio Cancello, the grandson of crime boss Bernardo Cancello, is in Berlin to learn how to launder money. He will succeed Bernardo because Bernardo's two sons will remain in jail for many years. Marcantonio has proven himself an able murderer, but he's arrogant and can't pass up the chance to demand protection money from the owners of a pizzeria in a tony Berlin neighborhood. Jago Browne, a young Brit working in a staid, prestigious Berlin bank, sees what Marcantonio is doing and attempts to intercede. Jago's effort fails disastrously, and his attempts at retaliation make matters even worse, sounding alarms in London, Berlin, Rome, and Calabria. Jago's naivete, it seems, could threaten a massive international effort to destroy the Cancello clan. Seymour remains in fine form.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)