Book Review: Kill the Father by Sandrone Dazieri

In this fascinatingly complex thriller, two people, each shattered by their past, team up to solve a series of killings and abductions—unspeakable crimes that turn out to be merely the visible surface of something far more sinister.

When a woman is beheaded in a park outside Rome and her six-year-old son goes missing, the police unit assigned to the case arrests the woman’s husband and awaits his confession. But the city’s Chief of Major Crimes has his doubts and assigns two of Italy’s top analytical minds to the case: Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli, a fierce, warrior-like detective still reeling from a horrific mass killing she survived, and Dante Torre, a man who spent his childhood trapped inside a concrete silo. Fed through the gloved hand of a masked kidnapper who called himself “the Father,” Dante emerged from his ordeal with crippling claustrophobia but, also, with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

All evidence suggests that the Father is back at work and wants a reunion with Dante. But when Colomba and Dante begin unraveling the truth, they find themselves wanted for murder. Now Dante and Columba must travel down a number of dark tunnels, both literal and figurative, as they confront the question that may solve it all: what lies beneath the water in a remote Italian quarry? And what might that revelation mean for ten children who have recently gone missing?

My Review:

Fairly simple review to do because I will let the blurb and the following three points do all the work for me 🙂

Three distinct stories

In the first few words of the blurb it tells you that it’s complex, yet it’s so easy to dismiss or plain miss that because it’s used so freely nowadays. Here, it is spot on. When I finished the book, I was able to identify three stories which were woven with precision to bring you this book; I should say at least three, there may have been more. Any one of which would have made for a thrilling mystery in the hands of this author. One of them is fairly common, one not so much and the third came out of left field – at least for me.

In my dreams

I dreamt about this, twice. Think about all the things I could have been dreaming about; consistently blogging, flying cars, sugar-free ice cream that tastes good and is good for you, yet I dreamt about this book. On top of that, I was aware that it was a dream and that I was making the story up as I went, but I didn’t care. I kept reading. This was an endless loop where I would read, realize that I was dreaming, dismiss the fact that I was dreaming and start reading again. I can’t really tell you how the story turned out in my dream since I never made it past the first sentence in the paragraph. Chances are it was nowhere near as good as Sandrone’s. The only other time I remembering dreaming about a book was John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, when I woke up in the middle of the night coughing because I was choking on trail dust.

Starring Colomba and Dante

Two unforgettable characters that work very well together. They had their issues, but it didn’t take long for me to care about them. I love their relationship. I don’t say this much and certainly not so soon, but if this becomes a series, I’m in. The combination of Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli and Dante Torre is too special for this to be a one-off. They most definitely should be paired off again, and again and again…

Okay, one more point – these notes come from the chicken scratch I write on a piece of paper (like a receipt) that comes with all borrowed library books:

• from the 1st page
• powerful first few paras

This started off fast. No warming up; I realized quickly that I was in it and was compelled to continue. Had life not gotten in the way, I would have been done with this story in less than 48 hours.

If you want an in-depth review, be sure to check out the one that brought this book to my attention, it’s Renee’s from itsbooktalk.com Thank you Renee 🙂

NB Renee is now reporting on her website that there will in fact be two other books to follow. Renee with the Breaking News 🙂

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