**An epic novel of gangland intrigue from 'one of crime fiction's new stars' [Sunday Telegraph]**
When Catherine Ducane disappears in the heart of New Orleans, the local cops react rapidly - she is the daughter of the Governor of Louisiana after all. But the case gets very strange, very quickly. Her bodyguard turns up horribly mutilated in the trunk of a beautiful vintage car and when her kidnapper calls he doesn't want money: he wants time alone with Ray Hartmann, who works for a Washington-based organised crime task force.
All Ray wants to do is get this over with quickly, and go home to try and repair his broken marriage. Instead he must listen to the mysterious kidnapper, an elderly Cuban named Ernesto Perez, who wants to tell him his life story. It's only when he realises that Ernesto has been a brutal hitman for the Mob since the 1950s that things start to come together. But by the time the pieces fall into place, it's already too late...
**
### From Booklist
*Starred Review* Pre-Katrina New Orleans, with all its passion and decadence intact, provides an ideal backdrop for the intimate revelations of Ernesto Perez, a career hit man. (This book was originally released in the UK in August 2005, literally days before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.) In what may well be the best Mafia novel since The Godfather, Ellory explores the dark intimacies of people bound by a complex relationship with violence, ranging from the mean streets to the highest strata of society. The story is built around a dialogue between Perez and Special Investigator Ray Hartmann, with Hartmann attempting to get Perez to reveal the location of a kidnapping victim. And not just any kidnapping victim but the daughter of the Louisiana governor. The mutilated corpse of the girl’s bodyguard casts an ominous pall over the case, and the political pressure on alcoholic Hartmann and a small army of FBI agents is intense. This is the fourth of Ellory’s powerful, literate thrillers to be published in the U.S. (the last was A Simple Act of Violence, 2011). It’s one damn fine book and should be highly recommended to all but the coziest of crime-fiction fans. --Elliott Swanson
### Review
"An engrossing tale about organized crime from the perspective of a kidnapper whose agenda will keep you guessing until the end." --*Entertainment Weekly*
"What a discovery! . . . R.J. Ellory will quickly rank with the best crime writers working today." --Otto Penzler
"A uniquely gifted, passionate, and powerful writer." --Alan Furst
Description:
**An epic novel of gangland intrigue from 'one of crime fiction's new stars' [Sunday Telegraph]** When Catherine Ducane disappears in the heart of New Orleans, the local cops react rapidly - she is the daughter of the Governor of Louisiana after all. But the case gets very strange, very quickly. Her bodyguard turns up horribly mutilated in the trunk of a beautiful vintage car and when her kidnapper calls he doesn't want money: he wants time alone with Ray Hartmann, who works for a Washington-based organised crime task force. All Ray wants to do is get this over with quickly, and go home to try and repair his broken marriage. Instead he must listen to the mysterious kidnapper, an elderly Cuban named Ernesto Perez, who wants to tell him his life story. It's only when he realises that Ernesto has been a brutal hitman for the Mob since the 1950s that things start to come together. But by the time the pieces fall into place, it's already too late... ** ### From Booklist *Starred Review* Pre-Katrina New Orleans, with all its passion and decadence intact, provides an ideal backdrop for the intimate revelations of Ernesto Perez, a career hit man. (This book was originally released in the UK in August 2005, literally days before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.) In what may well be the best Mafia novel since The Godfather, Ellory explores the dark intimacies of people bound by a complex relationship with violence, ranging from the mean streets to the highest strata of society. The story is built around a dialogue between Perez and Special Investigator Ray Hartmann, with Hartmann attempting to get Perez to reveal the location of a kidnapping victim. And not just any kidnapping victim but the daughter of the Louisiana governor. The mutilated corpse of the girl’s bodyguard casts an ominous pall over the case, and the political pressure on alcoholic Hartmann and a small army of FBI agents is intense. This is the fourth of Ellory’s powerful, literate thrillers to be published in the U.S. (the last was A Simple Act of Violence, 2011). It’s one damn fine book and should be highly recommended to all but the coziest of crime-fiction fans. --Elliott Swanson ### Review "An engrossing tale about organized crime from the perspective of a kidnapper whose agenda will keep you guessing until the end." --*Entertainment Weekly* "What a discovery! . . . R.J. Ellory will quickly rank with the best crime writers working today." --Otto Penzler "A uniquely gifted, passionate, and powerful writer." --Alan Furst