In the Name of Ishmael

(Translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein)

A stunning literary thriller of international political intrigue, In the Name of Ishmael features two interlocking stories that weave a gripping conspiracy plot with a serial killer narrative—culminating in a shattering climax that delivers an astonishing surprise.
Milan, 1962. David Montorsi, an earnest young police detective, is obsessed by a death that his colleagues conspicuously ignore: a child found murdered and half-buried under a World War II monument in a soccer stadium. Montorsi's investigation leads him into a world of secret assassinations and danger—engineered, it seems, by the elusive figure named Ishmael.
Milan, 2001. Another detective, Guido Lopez—jaded almost past caring—investigates the random killing of a stranger on the street. Against his will he is ensnared in a plot that leads him deep into Europe's political underworld where bizarre and ritualistic acts of sex and murder—orchestrated by Ishmael—ultimately threaten the security of the West.
In their parallel quests to uncover the identity of Ishmael, Montorsi and Lopez struggle to assemble pieces of the puzzle that connect to a series of inexplicable events, from the killing of an Italian press magnate to a sadomasochistic secret society. Both are led ever closer to the seemingly omnipotent yet invisible Ishmael—who may not only direct the deaths of innocents but determine the fates of nations.
Set in a Milan shadowed by rain, cold, and menace, as well as in Paris, Frankfurt, and Brussels, and spanning not just generations but a Europe and an America in profound conflict, In the Name of Ishamel is both an extraordinarily original thriller and a bold exploration of the hidden uses of power.
(© Miramax Books)