Arturo Messina, the commissario in charge of the investigation, is not known for his strict adherence to department protocol. He is, however, a father and appreciates the agony that Bramante is experiencing upon the loss of his son. Messina puts Bramante in a cell with Torchia telling Bramante he will give him an hour to question Torchia on his own, knowing full well this action is against procedure. Inspector Leo Falcone, knowing the rage and anger of which Bramante is capable, checks the cell some fifty minutes later to find Bramante has beaten Torchia senseless. Against Messina’s orders, he calls for medical help.

The medical personnel try desperately to keep Torchia alive, but the man has lost consciousness and there is little hope for his survival. The medic in charge asks Falcone, who has accompanied the hapless Torchia in the ambulance, if he wants to see if Torchia will say anything about the incident. Falcone shrugs but the medic is able to bring Torchia to consciousness briefly and the man utters a few words before he dies.

Bramante is imprisoned for Torchia’s death, but great leniency is extended due to the circumstances. He is allowed to continue teaching and periodically released to be with his family or continue research. After fourteen years Bramante has served his sentence, and Messina has retired only to be replaced by his son who is his father’s equal in running his department with an iron hand. His dislike for Falcone mirrors his father’s as Falcone’s action with regard to Torchia did little to raise the elder Messina’s esteem in the department. There is pressure to reopen the case of the missing seven year old, who, of course, should he still live is now twenty-one. As Falcone and his protégé, Nic Costa, delve into the affair, they notice many things, including the deaths of some of the students that were present when Allessio went missing.

Two factions develop: the Messina forces and Falcone-Nic Costa, which are completely at odds with each other. Both groups are discovering that Bramante is not the quiet studious professor that they believed him to be.

Although David Hewson’s latest tale of Nic Costa and Leo Falcone is belled as a thriller, the heart of this book is really the relationships that develop between fathers and sons. The startling disappearance of Allessio Bramante and the mystery of what could have become of this young boy could be considered enough to carry the story, but Mr. Hewson has added a great deal of depth to the novel when he examines what sort of a man the elder Bramante was and how his relationship with his wife changes. In addition, his career and professional relationships are affected by the horrific event in his life.

The story is also intimately tied with Rome and its history. Rome is recalled by all as a major center of Christianity, but other religions have flourished in this ancient capital as well. Mithraism, a cult which has its origins in Persia attracted a following in Rome, which Hewson explores in some detail both in his notes and the novel itself. This history lesson is an added bonus to an already workable thriller. For the reader unfamiliar with the police in Rome and Italy, the author does a creditable job, while carefully avoiding being pedantic or didactic.

The plot involves events that occurred fourteen years ago, and events that are contemporary. Mr. Hewson has thoughtfully divided the stories, which are being told concurrently, into separate chapters or divisions and italicized the portions that deal with the original scenes in which Allessio goes missing. It still is a bit confusing because some of the characters were involved in the events of fourteen years ago as well as the present day and only Allessio’s story is italicized. It takes a bit of reorientation each time the scene shifts.

The reader is also treated to a short course in Biology and Genetics through the discovery of a flatworm in dead body. Apparently genetically there are distinct colonies of flatworms in different parts of Rome. This fact is of considerable help to the forensic scientists involved in the case.

Those avid readers of David Hewson’s fiction will be happy to catch up with Falcone, Costa and their significant others. The last time we saw them they were in exile, sort of, in Venice. Now they are back in Rome, but Falcone can’t help placing himself in harm’s way at the end of the book just as he did in his previous adventure.

--Andy Plonka