In the Name of Ishmael

The murder of a baby and, 40 years later, an unknown scarred adult prove to be as puzzling to the police as they are to the listener. Both occur in Milan, and the novel bounces from one to the other, usually focusing on the increasingly perplexed detectives trying to solve them. The crimes are the work of Ishmael, but what--or who--is Ishmael? The time shifts occur at climactic moments, a technique that is frustrating at times yet keeps the listener engrossed. Helping, too, is a flawless reading by Grover Gardner, whose pace, nuance, and skill with Italian--and later on with French, German, and Belgian--bespeak an almost native fluency. Evil abounds in this work, including some among the presumed good guys, but then evil may be Ishmael--or vice versa--and Gardner captures everyone's uncertainty. T.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

June 30, 2003
A terrorist gang headed by the mysterious Ishmael of the title is the target of two police investigations, one in 1962 and the other in 2001, in this intricate novel of suspense and intrigue set in Milan. As Genna spins his linked stories of murder and organized crime, he weaves a web of mind games, trickery and looming threat. In 1962, the body of a 10-month-old baby boy is found on a rugby field, a "homicide with a sexual component." Inspector David Montorsi, charged with the investigation, is particularly troubled by the case because his wife, Maura, is pregnant with their first child. As he draws closer to the ring of terrorists who seem the likely perpetrators, he and his wife are entangled in their deadly schemes. In 2001, a simple murder leads Inspector Guido Lopez to an underworld of sadomasochism associated with the still-unidentified Ishmael. Meanwhile, the international participants in an economic conference—including Henry Kissinger, who is revealed to play a sinister role in Genna's tale—converge on Milan. The double plot is clever, but often unnecessarily tangled and burdened with lengthy philosophical musings. By the time the two investigations finally converge and the criminal, political and spiritual aims of Ishmael are revealed, many readers will feel stifled by the dense web of conspiracy and counter-conspiracy. 5-city author tour.