THE ABOMINATION

Written by Jonathan Holt

Review written by Adrian Magson

Adrian Magson is the author of 27 crime and spy thrillers. 'Death at the Old Asylum', the 8th title in the Inspector Lucas Rocco series set in 1960s France, currently in ebook, comes out in paperback on the 14th March via Canelo Books. More information: https://www.adrianmagson.com/


THE ABOMINATION
Head of Zeus
RRP: £16.66
Released: 18th June 2013
Hbk

This first of a trilogy finds a dead woman washed ashore in Venice, on the steps of the Santa Maria della Salute. She has been shot in the back of the head. What really makes her death stand out, however, is that she is wearing the robes of a priest, and she bears a tattoo similar to graffiti found in an ancient and abandoned lunatic asylum on a nearby island.

For Captain Katerina Tapo, desperate to get her teeth into her first murder case, it’s a deeply sinister beginning. But opportunities for female detectives are rare enough, and helped by Detective Colonel Aldo Piola, she begins her investigation, aware that for many, the idea of a woman dressed as a priest – especially in Italy - is something that will be anathema and may make asking questions so much more difficult.

Another woman thrown into the mix is 2nd Lieutenant Holly Boland, newly posted to the large US army base of Dal Molina as a civilian liaison officer, who becomes embroiled in a Freedom of Information enquiry related to atrocities committed by Croatian forces in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, allegedly under NATO involvement. Neither is aware that their paths are soon going to cross.

Meanwhile, in Verona, Daniele Barbo is awaiting the outcome of a court case where he has been charged with a number of crimes, including computer hacking. A descendant of an aristocratic Venetian family and son of a playboy, Barbo, who is rarely seen in public after being kidnapped and mutilated as a boy, is the founder of a website and mirror world called Carnivia. Originally seen as another social media site, it has become something else, where anonymous gossip can be posted and where much of the traffic is sexual in nature.

A multi-layered case involving sex-trafficking, drugs, war, the occult, the church and high-level corruption, other players include former CIA officer Ian Gilroy (who isn’t as ‘former’ as he pretends); Avvocato Benito Marcello, who seems intent only on undermining and closing down the case altogether; and Father Uriel, an expert on religions and the occult, but a man with a hidden background. All these and more are intertwined and appear to lead back to the island of Poveglia, where history has left its sinister marks.

Comparisons have been made with Dan Brown, although this appears to be something quite different to me. While there is a powerful religious element to the story’s backdrop which colours the overall atmosphere, it doesn’t detract from the sinister echoes of more recent events in Bosnia and Croatia, where much of the focus finally unfurls.

A chase scene, especially, involving Holly and Katerina, where they are targeted by drones with supposed dummy missiles under cover of an army exercise, and chased by sex traffickers, is extremely well drawn and tense.

Something for everyone, then. The writing is fluid and absorbing, the tension high throughout, and the main protagonists – especially Captain Kat Tapo and 2nd Lieutenant Holly Bolland – attractive characters without being overly dramatised.

medical abortion pill online abortion pill cytotec abortion pill buy online
cheat on husband why do men cheat on their wife married men who cheat
buy viagra canada using levitra and viagra together generic viagra cipla
buy viagra online canada how long does viagra last for viagra size
website having an abortion cost of abortion pills
dilatation and curettage aspiration procedure abortion surgical abortion stories
aids picture early symptoms of hiv in men hiv symptoms in men pictures
tween girls tribb sex stories stories explicit interacial sex stories 1950 s
why do wife cheat married and want to cheat all wives cheat
ciprofloxacin 500 mg tablets http://ciprofloxacin500mgantibiotics.com ciprofloxacin hcl uses
coupons prescriptions gallaghermalpractice.com prescription coupon card
internet drug coupons modelosguayaquil.com coupons for viagra
can i take motrin and tylenol link can i take motrin and tylenol
coupon for bystolic read forest patient assistance
prescription drug cards eblogin.com prescription coupons
cialis coupons online read prescription savings cards
coupons for cialis printable cialis coupon 2015 cialis coupons free
prescriptions coupons pristineschool.com cialis.com coupon
prescriptions coupons cialis.com coupon cialis free sample coupons
xarelto prix skydtsgaard.dk xarelto prix
flagyl suspension flagyl plm flagyl vademecum
priligy kokemuksia philhustead.com priligy resepti
lilly cialis coupons cialis prescription coupon cialis coupon codes
amoxicillin dermani haqqinda amoxicillin-rnp amoxicillin 500 mg
abortion pill debate pro abortion how to get an abortion pill
free abortion pill laziendaalimentacoes.com.br different types of abortion pill
naltrexone off label uses alcohol antagonist low dose naltrexone reviews
where can i buy low dose naltrexone link naltrexone uses


Home
Book Reviews
Features
Interviews
News
Columns
Authors
Blog
About Us
Contact Us

Privacy Policy | Contact Shots Editor

THIS WEBSITE IS © SHOTS COLLECTIVE. NOT TO BE REPRODUCED ELECTRONICALLY EITHER WHOLLY OR IN PART WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION OF THE EDITOR.