Kill the Angel

Chapter one of Dazieri’s disappointing sequel to 2017’s well-received Kill the Father opens with an arresting sentence: “Death arrived in Rome at ten minutes to midnight aboard a high-speed train from Milan.” Colomba Caselli, deputy chief of the city’s homicide squad, is called to Termini Station after a grim discovery—all the passengers in the train’s first-class car are dead, victims of a bioweapon. Colomba joins a massive manhunt for the men claiming responsibility in the name of ISIS. Her skepticism that ISIS is behind the attack is bolstered by insights from private consultant Dante Torre. The reader, however, is ahead of the leads, due to a grim prologue featuring prisoners confined to a concrete cube, including a 13-year-old referred to as “the Girl,” who survives torture only to get the upper hand on their captors. Genre veterans will be wondering when this teaser will bear fruit, and when it does, the payoff isn’t particularly interesting. Hopefully, Dazieri will return to form next time. Agent: Laura Grandi, Grandi e Associati (Italy). (Feb.)