Nic Costa and his fellow detectives aren't very excited about their latest assignment, babysitting some Italian relics that are being used to promote a film version of Dante's Inferno. But very quickly, they figure out that their job is going to be a lot more convoluted than that.
The night of the premier, a man rides a horse hell-bent through the throngs of people, and minutes later, that man is dead. The priceless relic they were protecting -- a death mask of Dante -- is gone. Nic, Leo Falcone, Gianni Peroni and Teresa Lupo find themselves battling the Carabinieri, Italy's military, who were responsible for protecting the actors on the movie set.
When an actor disappears, the Carabinieri don't want regular detectives interfering in their work, even though Nic and the others believe the disappearances of people and valuable relics must be linked.
It soon becomes clear someone is connecting the chaos and crimes surrounding the movie to Dante's nine circles of Hell. Determined that no one else will get hurt and that they will recover Dante's death mask, the detectives travel to San Francisco for the movie's US premiere.
Hewson has captivated readers with his Italian detectives since book one -- and they'll continue to be enthralled in DANTE'S NUMBERS. A sharp, complex plot vies with strong characters to create a story of riveting texture. The only thing missing is a little more time with Leo and Gianni, who have been such strong, entrancing characters in the other stories. This book is primarily about Nic, who is stumbling into a relationship with one of the movie actresses.
Anticipated and now, happily received. Thank you, Mr. Hewson.
It was a warm, golden evening in Romeβa night filled with
anticipation. A legendary director was premiering his new
film version of Danteβs Inferno. From around the
world, celebrities gathered at the Villa Borghese as the
paparazzi thronged among them. But within moments the
event was in chaos. A man was dead. The filmβs star was
missingβand a priceless relic had vanished. In David
Hewsonβs masterful new novel of suspense, Detective Nic
Costa, numb from the recent death of his wife, finds
himself and his fellow detectives drawn into a strange and
terrifying limboβthe first of Danteβs nine circles of
Hell.While Dante had Beatrice as his guide,
Nic Costa has an enigmatic beauty of his own: a bored
American film actress named Maggie Flavier who decides
that Costa, and no one else, is suited for the job of
protecting her from the danger surrounding the film. As
the premiere shifts locationsβfrom Rome to San Franciscoβ
Costa leaves Europe for the first time in his life, and is
pulled from his grief and ambivalence by Maggie Flavier
and the city by the bay. Fortunately his fellow detectives
are under no such spell. Charged with protecting a trove
of rare Italian artworks and artifacts, they are also
joining the hunt for a killer who has struck twice again,
leaving behind a tableau of clues that range from Danteβs
deadly cycle of numbers to the films of Alfred
Hitchcock.Now, with Maggie herself in danger, Nic
must throw off the fog of wonder and infatuation he feels
in the presence of this beautiful woman in all her guises.
But it may already be too late. As evidence points to
connections deep within the Italian Mafia, and the Roman
policemen do battle with a celluloid culture they cannot
quite comprehend, a killerβs chilling plot is closing in
around themβguided by a poetβs medieval vision of sin and
punishment, planned with a modern genius for revengeβ¦.
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