The Lost Concerto

At the start of this suspenseful, heartrending novel from Mario (Firebird), Sofia Orsini and her young son, Thomas, are in flight from Sofia’s husband, Victor, the target of U.S. Justice Department special agent Simon Sugarman, who suspects Victor of funding an impending terrorist attack on American soil. Sofia and Thomas take refuge in a church on an island off Brittany, where a killer strikes Sofia down. Thomas disappears. Ten months later in Boston, Simon uses some devious arguments to persuade recently widowed music shop owner and concert pianist Maggie O’Shea, Sofia’s closest friend and Thomas’s godmother, to help him locate Victor and the missing boy. Maggie becomes ensnared in a perilous game of cat and mouse that moves between France and America and brings her into contact with murderers, terrorists, and CIA agents. Musical artifacts and stolen art also figure in the action, which builds to a highly satisfying resolution. Mario’s overheated style won’t be to every taste, but fans of romantic thrillers will be enthralled. [em](July) [/em]