When Colombian Arias Cuevas is caught trying to smuggle drugs through Venice airport, his fear isn't fuelled by the idea of prison. He's much more frightened of his aunt--it was her coke he took off with. He comes clean to avoid her wrath. The cops set up a sting to find out who was to be the recipient of the drugs, and art smuggler Nazzareno Corradi falls straight into the trap. But he's been set up. His lawyer hires "the Alligator," and his fixer, Max, to find out what's going on. Soon it becomes apparent why Cuevas was so afraid--the aunt, La Tia, has left a bloody trail in her wake, and is now looking to do some business in Italy, and she's not about to let anybody get in her way.
“The morally ambiguous tone makes this an intriguing read, and the suspense is well maintained.”―Manchester Evening News.
“Carlotto’s taut, broody Mediterranean noir is filled with blind corners and savage set pieces. Pellegrini’s deeds are unquestionably loathsome, but his witty Machiavellian perspective, amplified by a class rage well attuned to the current Italian zeitgeist, makes you root for him all the same.”
—The New Yorker.
