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A Season for the Dead: Nic Costa, Book 1

Nic Costa, Book 1

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A Season for the Dead: Nic Costa, Book 1

By: David Hewson
Narrated by: Sean Baker
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In a hushed Vatican reading room, the scene was shocking: a crazed professor shot dead after brandishing evidence of a grisly crime. Moments later, two bodies are found in a nearby church, each with a gruesome calling card from the killer.

As the August heat takes Rome in its fiery grip, the news of the two brutal murders holds the city in thrall. And as the media gathers and Vatican officials close ranks, a young detective is sent to the forefront of the case. Nic Costa is the son of an infamous Italian Communist, a connoisseur of Caravaggio, and a cop who barely looks his twenty-seven years of age. Thrust into the heart of a killing spree that will rattle his city down to its ancient bones, Nic meets a woman who will soon dominate both his consciousness and his investigation.

A cool, beautiful professor of early Christianity, Sara Farnese was in the Vatican library on that fateful day, a witness to her colleague's strange outburst and death. But her role will become even more puzzling as more bodies are found: Each victim killed in a gory tableau of Christian martyrdom. And each victim had intimately known Sara, whose silence Costa cannot quite crack and whose carnal history becomes more lurid and unfathomable with every revelation.

Soon, a nightmarish chase is implicating politicians and priests - while at the heart of the matter remains the woman Costa is both investigating and guarding. Wanting to believe in Sara's innocence, Nic still cannot turn his eyes from the truths he is uncovering. Even as the secrets of a woman, a killer and a city begin to unravel... with devastating consequences. Crime Thrillers Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction Rome Thriller Exciting Scary Italy
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....the story is worth it. Although I agree with other comments regarding the reader of this book, the story is intriguing and gripping and well worth sticking with. This is the first book I have listened to in the series and I enjoyed the story so much that the others are on my list.

I am now listening to the second book and I am finding the reading of that one more humorous 'witha thea fake Italian accents'. There is also less definition between the voices of different characters (particularly Nic Costa, Falconi and Peroni) which makes it a bit more difficult to follow.

Get over the narration....

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This is the first of a series of novels about Inspector Nick Costa of the Rome city police. A series of brutal serial killings are linked to some of the churches of the martyrs in aRome, but when it enters into the Separate City State of the Vatican, important people and important secrets start to come to light.
The complex mixture of police procedural and corruption in the Catholic Church is very interesting and beautifully written. The narrator is excellent and takes the decision not to give Italian accents, in fact Costs aounds a bit like Alan Bennet, but it worked well for me.
Well worth a read, now I've got the rest of the series to read.

A Complex Tale of Corruption in the Vatican

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This was a new author for me and was a bit of a leap in the dark. It is convoluted and well-plotted and yet didnt fully grab me or create enough tension. I found I did want to continue with it to find out the ending, and although I did continue to the end I was not sufficiently engaged with the characters. I felt a lack of fear or thrill despite its content. It is quite gory in parts and involves a serial, religious, killer, the catholic church and corruption, and a cop who (obviously) falls for the girl who is the main character. Some parts flow more smoothly than others but there were large detours into side characters that I found distracting - you knew they were going to die. Its worth a listen and I would try others of his but wasnt the best crime novel.

A Season for the Dead

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I loved reading this book - was disappointed with this version. The performer's narration was spot on but his voices for the characters was pretty off-putting.

Slightly disappointing

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This is a complex and gripping crime novel . Really like the way the characters have been written, shame about some of the narrators accents but that didn’t detract too much from the great story.

A great listen

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