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Nadia Dalbuono has spent the last 15 years working as a documentary director and consultant for Channel 4, ITV, and for National Geographic in various countries. The Few is her first novel. She lives in northern Italy.
A Maxim Jakubowski selected title. Leone is a Roman detective whose father once was a leading figure in the Mafia. When he is handed a file of compromising photographs of a high-placed politician, he is faced with the dilemma of hushing up the case and prove his loyalty to a corrupt system. When two bodies are later discovered, linked to the case, his situation becomes impossible to sustain and his past catches up with him as he walks an increasingly more fragile tightrope. The British author who is married to an Italian and now lives there once worked in television and is familiar with the sometimes stench of the corridors of power and sharply evokes her protagonist's moral uncertainties and the poisoned perils running through every strand of Italian society. Has Donna Leon found her match?
The fourth Leone Scamarcio thriller by CWA-longlisted rising star Nadia Dalbuono. When a group of terrorists carry out a series of attacks in Rome, Detective Leone Scamarcio gets an unexpected call - the men, who appear to be Islamic extremists, say they will only negotiate with him. Scamarcio is given just twenty-four hours to meet the terrorists' demands, or their hostages will be killed, along with thousands more. The only catch? He cannot involve the police or the security services. Racing against both the clock and his own colleagues, Scamarcio must uncover the truth behind the attacks before it's too late. But, as he begins to investigate, he finds that every question turns up five more ... As usual for this son-of-a-Mafioso policeman, nothing is as it seems.
The fourth Leone Scamarcio thrillerOn a hot summer's morning in Rome, three public places - a McDonald's, a preschool, and a caf - come under siege from a group of terrorists who appear to be Islamic extremists. When word comes through that the terrorists will only negotiate with Detective Leone Scamarcio, no one is more surprised than Scamarcio himself.The young man with frightened eyes who speaks to Scamarcio seems anything but in control. He says that Scamarcio is the only person he can trust to care about the truth. Then he gives Scamarcio an unusual list of demands, including that everything must be done without police or intelligence involvement, and within twenty-four hours - or the hostages die.With his face on every TV screen, and with all of Italy on alert, Scamarcio must race against the clock and elude the grasp of the increasingly unhinged chief of intelligence, Colonel Scalisi, to meet the terrorists' demands, and to uncover the truth behind the attacks. But, as Scamarcio follows the young man's clues, he finds that every question seems to turn up five more, and, as usual for this son-of-a-Mafioso policeman, nothing is as it seems.
The investigation of a hit-and-run in Rome leads Detective Leone Scamarcio on a deadly journey to confront his Mafia past. When Leone Scamarcio is called to investigate an apparent hit-and-run, it seems like a job for a traffic officer, not one of Rome's top detectives. But when the victims are kidnapped on their way to the hospital, and Scamarcio discovers that they are the family of one of the country's top television executives, the infamous Micky Proietti, things start to get interesting. Everyone, it seems - from Premier League footballers to jilted starlets and even the Calabrian Mafia - has an axe to grind with Proietti. As Scamarcio delves into the underbelly of Italian show business, he discovers a possible connection between this investigation and his own Mafia father's right-hand man. To solve the case he must travel home to Calabria, but can he finally banish the ghosts of the past?
The investigation of an apparent hit-and-run unravels a tangled web in modern Rome.When the family of Micky Proietti, a top television executive, goes missing, Leone Scamarcio is called to investigate. Everyone, it seems - from Premier League footballers to jilted starlets and cabinet ministers - has an axe to grind with Proietti. What starts out as an investigation into his countless affairs soon becomes an inquiry into how Proietti does business and the people he has discarded along the way. Finally, Proietti's finances attract Scamarcio's attention, and he discovers that the drama commissioner has been granting favours to some very shadowy sponsors.Like a swimmer trying to escape a riptide, Scamarcio comes to realise that this new inquiry threatens to bring him head to head with his father's old lieutenant, Piero Piocosta. If he's to survive in the police force, Scamarcio knows that he must find a way to get Piocosta off his back, once and for all. And find it quickly.Reluctantly, he travels home to Calabria in an attempt to understand how powerful Piocosta has really become and whether he might ever be silenced. It's a perilous journey, but one Scamarcio has to make if he's to finally banish the ghosts of his past.PRAISE FOR NADIA DALBUONO'Dalbuono has an intimate knowledge and understanding of Italy, its criminal underbelly and the often twisted and corrupted state that functions on the back of its relationship with the Mafia A fresh voice in a well-trodden field This is Euro-noir of the highest order.' New Books'A racy thriller.' TLS
The second Leone Scamarcio thriller. As autumn sets in, the queues outside the soup kitchens of Rome are lengthening, and the people are taking to the piazzas, increasingly frustrated by the deepening economic crisis. When Detective Leone Scamarcio is called to an apparent suicide on the Ponte Sant'Angelo, a stone's throw from Vatican City, the dead man's expensive suit suggests yet another businessman fallen on hard times. But Scamarcio is immediately troubled by similarities with the 1982 murder of Roberto Calvi, dubbed 'God's Banker' because of his work for the Vatican Bank. When, days later, a cardinal with links to the bank is killed, and the CIA send a couple of heavies to warn him off the case, Scamarcio knows he's onto something big. As disturbing connections between 9/11, America's dirty wars, Vatican corruption, the Mafia, and Italy's violence against its own people begin to emerge, Scamarcio is forced to deal with responsibilities far above his pay grade - in this tightly plotted mystery full of political intrigue.
The second Leone Scamarcio thriller.As autumn sets in, the queues outside the soup kitchens of Rome are lengthening, and the people are taking to the piazzas, increasingly frustrated by the deepening economic crisis. Detective Leone Scamarcio is called to an apparent suicide on the Ponte Sant'Angelo, a stone's throw from Vatican City. A man is hanging from the bridge, his expensive suit suggesting yet another businessman fallen on hard times. But Scamarcio is immediately troubled by similarities with the 1982 murder of Roberto Calvi, dubbed 'God's Banker' because of his work for the Vatican Bank. Scamarcio's instincts are soon proved correct when a cardinal with links to the bank is killed. And when US Intelligence warn Scamarcio to drop his investigation, he knows that the stakes are far higher than he first realised. Ignoring their threats, Scamarcio pushes on, but his progress is being monitored by some of the world's most powerful men, who will stop at nothing to make sure their dirty work stays under cover. In breathtaking developments that link 9/11, America's dirty wars, Vatican corruption, the Mafia, and Italy's violence against its own people, Scamarcio has to deal with responsibilities far above his pay grade.PRAISE FOR NADIA DALBUONO'A rollercoaster ride Unsettling but compelling.' The Sun'[P]its the little guy against the global forces that shaped the late twentieth and early twenty first century behind the scenes a taut, well constructed thriller.' PS News
A Maxim Jakubowski selected title. Leone is a Roman detective whose father once was a leading figure in the Mafia. When he is handed a file of compromising photographs of a high-placed politician, he is faced with the dilemma of hushing up the case and prove his loyalty to a corrupt system. When two bodies are later discovered, linked to the case, his situation becomes impossible to sustain and his past catches up with him as he walks an increasingly more fragile tightrope. The British author who is married to an Italian and now lives there once worked in television and is familiar with the sometimes stench of the corridors of power and sharply evokes her protagonist's moral uncertainties and the poisoned perils running through every strand of Italian society. Has Donna Leon found her match?
Detective Leone Scamarcio, the son of a former leading mafioso, has turned his back on the family business, and has joined the Rome police force. He may be one of the last honest men in Italy. But when Scamarcio is handed a file of extremely compromising photographs of a high-profile Italian politician, and told to 'deal with it', he knows he's in for trouble. And when a young man is found stabbed to death in Rome, and a young American girl disappears on a beach in Elba, Scamarcio's job gets a whole lot more complicated. Worst of all, every lead seems to implicate the prime minister - a multi-media baron, and the most powerful man in Italy. As the case spins out of control, and his own past catches up with him, Scamarcio must navigate the darkest currents of Italian society - only to find that nothing is as it seems, and that the price of truth may be higher than he can pay.PRAISE FOR NADIA DALBUONO'[A] rock-solid read, with the click-clack of shoes on cobblestones and the oppressive heat of a Mediterranean summer making for a delectable spring treat.' Readings Monthly'Gripping You won't be able to put down this unsettling tale.' The Sun
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