The Seventh Sacrament

After their last case during their probationary exile in Venice, Nic Costa and partner Gianni Peroni look forward to resuming their careers back in Rome, and solidifying their promising personal relationships. Much to their dismay, their plans are seriously disrupted by a series of brutal murders by a perpetrator well known to the Roman polizia, one who is making dire threats against their boss, Leo Falcone. The women are forced into protective custody, while their men attempt to foil the maniacal plans of Giorgio Bramante. Many police procedural novels highlight the pressures that their work places upon the marriages of police personnel. David Hewson does the same in this book, in which the urgencies of the case at hand override personal needs for two harrowing days. Bramante is the quintessential antagonist, a devious, vicious killer, but the true villain in this horrific crime spree is someone beyond suspicion. It is this element of surprise, coupled with the mystery that underlies a related cold case, that makes The Seventh Sacrament so compelling, a creepy crawl through underground Rome.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. It seemed for me to start a little slower than the others, but that was probably just my perception. It sure got going and ended with a bang! All of these books make we want to see Rome. the great decriptions from the author and the timeless history all combine to take the reader across the sea to another time and place. Enjoy!

David Hewson is a weekly columnist for the Sunday times. As well as several novels he has also found the time to write a number of travel books. He lives in Kent. David Hewson's books can, to some people be extremely violent, some would say gratuitously but his books are after all thrillers and this one is up there with the best of them. I am sure that if this type of book is not your cup of tea, you will not buy it. For those who like a travelogue as well as a thriller the book open in Rome where Nic Costa and his cronies have returned from Venice. They are soon involved in another mystery surrounding fresh bloodstains on the shirt of a small boy who has gone missing. To go any deeper into the storyline would spoil it for the reader. The author's love of foreign places is evident by the number of travel books he has written and this comes through in the background to his books. Maybe it is my imagination but having them take place in Rome and Venice etc. makes them that much more readable than say London or Manchester.

Fourteen years ago seven-year-old Alessio Bramante vanished in the tunnels beneath Rome's ancient Circus Maximus. His father, renowned archeology professor Giorgio Bramante had left his son by the underground labyrinth and his students were drunk and with the child when they performed a ritual at the altar of an Ancient Roman God. The kid was not found, but the police further bungled the case when they left their prime suspect, student Ludo Torchia, alone with an outraged Giorgio. He went to prison for murdering the suspect, but is now free. However, almost from the moment the bitter Giorgio left prison, those associated with the disappearance begin to die and someone assaults Italian Police Inspector Leo Falcone, who worked on the unsolved case. He and his partner Detective Nic Costa begin making inquiries into the original vanishing as well as Giorgio's recent activity as he has the motive for serial killing vengeance plus he knows the underground like no one else does; Costa and Falcone believe the answer lies there. Costa's last outing (see The Lizard's Bite) was one of the top police procedurals of 2006; THE SEVENTH SACRAMENT will prove likewise in 2007. The story line is fast-paced while it smoothly moves back and forth between the present and the past. The investigation is top rate filled with twists and turns while Leo brings a human element with his feelings of inadequacy and guilt. Fans will appreciate David Hewson's superior Roman adventure. Harriet Klausner

I am truly addicted to his series, which has returned to Rome after a Venetian exile.