While in Rome giving a violin performance, Julia Ansdell
searches for souvenirs to take home to Boston to her
husband, Rob, and three-year-old daughter, Lily. At an antique
shop, she finds an old book of music and a loose page falls
out. The page is a handwritten composition
titled "Incendia" by L. Todesco. Julia is drawn to the
unusual notes and key of the waltz, and she cannot wait to
play it.
However, the first time Julia plays "Incendia" at her home,
her life turns into a nightmare. Lily reacts violently to
the music, becoming a hurtful person Julia does not know.
Since Julia is the only one who sees Lily this way, Rob is
concerned about Julia's state of mind. Intent on proving
she is not insane, Julia secretly travels to Venice to
search for the origins of the music. The further she digs
into the history of the composer, Lorenzo Todesco,
and "Incendia," the more shocking facts she uncovers. It
soon becomes evident someone does not want Julia to dig up
the past, and she finds herself involved in a life-or-death
situation.
PLAYING WITH FIRE is an exciting and masterfully devised
stand-alone novel by Tess Gerritsen, well-known for her
best-selling Rizzoli & Isles series. Thorough
characterization and a gripping plotline steadily progress
to an intriguing conclusion. Told from the separate views
of Julia in the present day and Lorenzo in the early 1900s,
Tess Gerritsen puts a very human face on the tragedy of
Italian Jews at the beginning of the Holocaust. It has been
a long time since a book has brought tears to my eyes, but
PLAYING WITH FIRE did so. I highly recommend you read this
remarkable novel.
A gripping standalone thriller by the New York
Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles
series In a shadowy antiques shop
in Rome, violinist Julia Ansdell happens upon a curious
piece of music—the Incendio waltz—and is immediately
entranced by its unusual composition. Full of passion,
torment, and chilling beauty, and seemingly unknown to the
world, the waltz, its mournful minor key, its feverish
arpeggios, appear to dance with a strange life of their own.
Julia is determined to master the complex work and make its
melody heard.
Back home in Boston, from the
moment Julia’s bow moves across the strings, drawing the
waltz’s fiery notes into the air, something strange is
stirred—and Julia’s world comes under threat. The music has
a terrifying and inexplicable effect on her young daughter,
who seems violently transformed. Convinced that the hypnotic
strains of Incendio are weaving a malevolent spell,
Julia sets out to discover the man and the meaning behind
the score.
Her quest beckons Julia to the
ancient city of Venice, where she uncovers a dark,
decades-old secret involving a dangerously powerful family
that will stop at nothing to keep Julia from bringing the
truth to light.
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