• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2019 March #2
  *Starred Review* In the hills of Calabria, three boys (Luciano, Luigi, and our anonymous storyteller) begin a journey into organized crime that will lead them to heady power before a fitting if tragic fall. In the 1970s, marginalized from educational and job opportunities, Calabria's shepherding families develop a dark criminal partnership with the Ndrangheta Mob, hiding criminal fugitives and kidnap victims on their remote farms. Raised among Ndrangheta secrets, the three boys naturally begin plotting their own entry into the criminal world. Within a few short years, they've pulled off the robbery of a well-connected brothel owner, which seeds another ambitious venture: establishing Italy's first heroin pipeline. Fueled by the narrator's charismatic leadership, guided by Luciano's genius, and protected by Luigi and their new brother Sasa's bravery, they ride the heroin wave to unimaginable wealth, pivoting easily toward cocaine when heroin loses appeal. But, when a newly energized law-enforcement regime prompts the brothers to plan their underworld exit, they find themselves hunted by a vengeful former partner. Criaco's debut novel (published in Italy in 2008) is equally successful as gritty gangland chronicle, tribute to the bonds of brotherhood, and full-sensory ode to his beloved Calabrian mountains. Criaco's incisive social commentary and unflinching realism will appeal to fans of Scandinavian and American crime fiction, but his confidential, folkloric voice sets this story apart. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Gioacchino Criaco was born in Africo, a small town on the Ionian coast of Calabria. The son of shepherds, he graduated from University of Bologna with a degree in law and practiced as a lawyer in Milan until 2008, when his debut novel, Anime Nere (Black Souls), was published to great international acclaim.