The Abduction – Jonathan Holt

I’ve always thought if there was one city that embodied intrigue, with its dark water and its conspiratorial corners and alleyways, it’s Venice.  All through its long history, the city has been home to power struggles, corruption and shady dealings.

That’s where we find ourselves in Abduction, the eagerly-awaiting second part of Jonathan Holt’s Carnivia trilogy.  The trilogy opened with The Abomination, which, if you’re new to Holt’s work, is where you should start. While Venice can seem like a claustrophobic setting, Holt’s canvas is enormous, taking in Italian history, wartime secrets, the CIA, the Catholic church and the limitless open spaces of Carnivia, a virtual city.

A teenage girl has been abducted from a party during Carnival. She’s the daughter of an American soldier and it soon becomes apparent that this kidnap is politically motivated. Captain Kat Tapo of the Carabinieri must work with US intelligence analyst Holly Boland to save her.

The website, Carnivia.com begins to reveal long-buried secrets and clues to the investigation, while the CIA and the US military want to do the absolute opposite. Revealing the truth will be a dangerous and deadly business and there’s more than one skeleton for Tapo and Boland to expose in Italy’s wartime closet.

Abduction is an ambitious and breathtaking novel, which doesn’t baulk at shining a light into some very dark corners.  While it is a work of fiction, there are some aspects that leave you wondering about their basis in fact.

Jonathan Holt is a pseudonym for a bestselling British author. He is creative director at an advertising agency, which is an interesting contrast to his multi-layered and complex thrillers.  Why say something in five words, when you could say it in 50,000?

And Carnivia book three? On its way.

The Abduction – Jonathan Holt: buy online on Amazon