The Lost Girls of Rome - Donato Carrisi

My review of The Lost Girls of Rome first appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers. It is appearing here today with their permission.

First line: "The corpse opened his eyes."

Like a spider spinning a web, Donato Carrisi (The Whisperer) has intricately and stunningly crafted his sophomore thriller. The Lost Girls of Rome is a standalone novel featuring Sandra Vega, a widowed, 29-year-old forensic photographer who is convinced her husband was murdered after she discovers image clues he left in an antique camera.

In her search for answers, Vega follows the clues into the midst of a carefully kept, centuries-old Vatican secret: a group of priests, penitenzieri, investigating the worst confessed sins of humans. One penitenziere has gone rogue, however, and is giving victims opportunities for revenge. Like her husband before her, Vega’s discovery could lead straight to her death if the priest is not found and stopped.

A penitenziere explains to Vega, “There is a place where the world of light meets the world of darkness. It is there that everything happens: in the land of shadows…” This is the atmosphere Carrisi has created for The Lost Girls of Rome. There are hidden terrors, optical illusions and flickers of hope. He expertly weaves various crimes together, making the plot complex but coherent and deceivingly strong. As he connects the various strands of his web, the final product is a striking work of art.

A few potential questions arise from weaker points in the plot, including an early inquiry into a prominent character, but the foundation of the story still remains strong. Donato Carrisi’s written web is enticingly beautiful and will seductively trap readers immediately upon entering.

The Lost Girls of Rome is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9780316246798) from Mulholland Books.

THE WHISPERER - Donato Carrisi

If you missed my review of THE WHISPERER previously published by Shelf Awareness, today I am re-posting it here with their permission.

First line: "The big moth carried him along, moving by memory through the night."


Donato Carrisi’s debut thriller isn’t for the faint of heart, but it is most definitely for the connoisseur of fine fiction. A race to find the monster that has kidnapped and murdered five young girls, leaving only their arms behind, creates the foundation of the plot. A sixth arm is uncovered but forensic evidence indicates the child is still alive. From there Carrisi weaves in the psychological exploration of the investigative team: criminologist Goran Gavilia, missing person’s specialist Mila Vasquez, homicide investigator Sarah Rosa; they all harbor secrets that work to waylay the investigation and build the suspense of the novel.

Carrisi carefully and effectively toggles the point of view between a limited third person vantage point, an unknown first person perspective and a series of prison reports. This alternating frame of reference helps Carrisi to catch the reader off-guard with well-crafted plot twists that fuel the book’s intensity.

The translation of this novel is a bit awkward and inconsistent at times, causing the reader to possibly question location or experience a stiffness in dialogue. But aside from these types of small details, The Whisperer is a hauntingly exciting, graphically thought-provoking psychological thriller.

Start this one early in the day, you won’t want to put it down and you won’t want to turn out the lights. Carrisi is setting the bar of excellence high right off the bat in 2012.

The Whisperer is available in hardcover (ISBN: 978031619472) from Mulholland Books and on audio (ISBN: 9781611133547) from Hachette Audio, narrated by Carol Monda.