The Silence of the Wave

by Gianrico Carofiglio, Howard Curtis (Translator)

Overview

A stand-alone thriller from best-selling Italian crime writer Gianrico Carofiglio, whose work has been translated into twenty-four languages. Every Monday and Thursday, Roberto Marías crosses Rome on foot for his appointment with his psychiatrist. There he sits in silence, flooded by memories. He remembers surfing with his father as a child. He remembers the treacherous years he spent working as an undercover agent, years that taught him how cynicism and corruption are not merely external influences but exist within us as well. His past has left him devastated, but now his psychiatrist’s words, his hypnotic strolls through Rome, and a chance meeting with a woman named Emma—who, like Roberto, is ravaged by a profound guilt—begin to painfully revive him. And when eleven-year-old Giacomo asks Roberto to help him conquer his nightmares, Roberto at last achieves a true rebirth. A thriller about human faults, frailties, and the painful bond between fathers and sons. Praise for The Silence of the Wave: "A novel distinguished by the natural gift of prose as smooth and silent as a perfect wave." —Paolo Di Stefano, Corriere della Sera "A literary jigsaw full of plot twists." —Luciana Sica, La Repubblica

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780847841394
Publisher:	Rizzoli
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Gianrico Carofiglio was born in 1961 in Bari, where for many years he has worked as an anti-Mafia prosecutor. From 2008 to 2013, he served as senator of Italy’s Democratic Party. He is best known as the author of four award-winning, best-selling Guido Guerrieri crime novels.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/15/2013
This superb book from the "Italian John Grisham" (A Walk in the Dark; Reasonable Doubts; Temporary Perfections) is almost not a mystery thriller at all, though there is a genuine, but small, mystery solved in it. Rather, it's a novel of character, rich in compassion for its flawed, deeply troubled protagonists. One is a former undercover narc who can no longer come to terms with the lies he has lived. The other is a young mother who blames herself for the death of her child's father. The detective and the woman meet outside the office building of the psychiatrist they both see. Over the course of this sweet work, they reach an accommodation of sorts with their own failings. VERDICT This is a superior title, warm and human, that should appeal widely.

Library Journal

A desperate search for human connection is at the heart of this moving novel from Carofiglio (The Past Is a Foreign Country). Roberto Marias, who infiltrated major drug cartels during his time as an undercover Italian cop, is on leave after coming close to blowing his own head off. His calendar has only two fixed points, his twice-a-week therapy appointments. Roberto, who drifts through life in a haze with minimal interactions with others, sometimes finds that “remembering and thinking are not beneficial activities” for him. A chance encounter with Emma, an attractive woman he recognizes from a TV condom commercial, may offer a chance of relief from his malaise. Some chapters related from the perspective of someone named Giacomo, who’s entranced by a classmate named Ginevra, add suspense, as the relationship of this subplot to the main one doesn’t become clear until the end. The author subtly and simply conveys the backstory to Roberto’s suicidal ideation. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

This is a superior title, warm and human, that should appeal widely.” ~Library Journal

"A desperate search for human connection is at the heart of this moving novel from Carofiglio." ~Publisher's Weekly

From the Publisher