Cry Wolf

Umbria, Italy, provides the backdrop for this strong first in a new thriller series from Gregorio, the husband-and-wife writing team of Michael Jacob and Daniela De Gregorio (Critique of Criminal Reason and three other mysteries set in Napoleonic-era Prussia). After a powerful earthquake devastates Umbria in the fall of 2009, the ’Ndrangheta, the ruthless Calabrian crime family, starts moving into the region. Against some of the ’Ndrangheta’s hit men and drug lords stands young Sebastiano Cangio, who fled to London after witnessing a cold-blooded execution on a beach in his native Calabria and now works as a park ranger in Umbria, a job that allows him to pursue his passion, Apennine wolves. Cangio and his new and resourceful girlfriend, Loredana Salvini, prove worthy foils to the merciless mafiosi. Gregorio effectively captures the grisly incongruities of mob relationships and the hypocrisies of Italian marital accommodations in this stark tale of violent murder and rampant political corruption. (Apr.)