Well, that was upsetting. I can’t remember the last Oates book I read, but this was a wonderful (and horrifying) way to jump back in. I really don’t want to meet anyone like Q__ P__, ever. We join him mid-narrative, following him just under a year after he is given probation by a judge for pleading guilty to “sexual misdemeanor committed against a minor,” (Q__ P__: “What happened with the black boy was Q__ P__’ s first offense, & a suspended sentence followed no actual […]
Incest, murder and martyrdom in Italy–or is it?
Another in the series with young Roman cop Nic Costa, this one deals with the fall to his death of a man whose teenaged daughter is obsessed with an ancient Italian story from the 16th century, in which Beatrice Cenci, a girl sexually abused by her father, ends up murdering him, only to be beheaded by the Vatican as punishment. Mina Gabriel, along with her brother and mother, has a secret to hide, and it is Costa’s job to figure it out. Although the family […]