Spellbinding multi-layered crime novel set in a fascinating period and place. Set in the first months of 1944, Rome is declared an 'open city' as the Allies steadily get closer. The German occupying forces know their days are numbered and yet the SS, the Gestapo and the Army desperately vie for power. The partisans attack the fascists and the Germans, triggering mass-murder retaliation. Controversially, the hero is an aristocratic German officer in the Wehrmacht. With echoes of Claus von Stauffenberg, he is torn between his duty as an officer and his integrity as a human being. He must investigate the deaths of a young German Embassy secretary, a Roman socialite and a cardinal, forcing him to confront historical characters like Field Marshal Kesselring and Monsignor Montini (the future Pope Paul VI).
Pastor, born in Italy, lived for thirty years in the United States, working as a university professor in Vermont and has since returned to her native country. She is the author of other novels including The Water Thief and The Fire Waker (set in Roman times and published to high acclaim in the US by St. Martin's Press), and is considered one of the most talented writers in the field of historical fiction. In 2008 she won the prestigious Premio Zaragoza for best historical fiction. She writes in English.
Title: Dark Song of Blood, A (Martin Bora Series)
Author: Ben Pastor
ISBN: 9781908524300
Binding:
Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press
Publication Date: 2014-06-30
Number of Pages: 283
Weight: 0.2495 kg
Praise for the Martin Bora series: The tone of LIAR MOON has a flu-like grimness, appropriate the 1943 setting. Pastor is excellent at providing details (silk stockings, movie magazines, cigarettes) that light up the setting. Booklist Pastor succeeds at painting a memorable picture of Fascist Italy through the lens of ordinary police procedure carried out under extraordinary circumstances. Publishers Weekly An impressive and intelligent novel. The Times LUMEN's plot is well crafted, her prose sharp - a disturbing mix of detection and reflection. Publisher's Weekly And don't miss LUMEN by Ben Pastor. When an abbess thought to have supernatural powers is murdered in Nazi-occupied Cracow, the Wehrmacht captain's investigation is complicated by his compatriots' cruelty and the Catholic Church's secrecy. An interesting, original and melancholy tale. Literary Review LUMEN is a work of promise and fulfillment. A mystery, it rivets the reader until the end and beyond, with its twist of historical realities. A historical piece, it faithfully reproduces the grim canvas of war. A character study, it captures the thoughts and actions of real people, not stereotypes. The Fredericksburg Free Lance Star
