Ok, so does anyone else get nervous when a book starts of with a list of characters? Unfortunately I do. For me it means lots of characters and they all play a part.

I felt the introductions to the characters went on for too long but I also understand why. But and it's a big but... did I really need to know it all then?

I enjoyed the book even though I felt it fell flat for me. The introductions made my expectations higher.

Hope you enjoy it more.

This novel did not capture my interest at all.

The characters were confusing and difficult to keep straight from one another, and while the concept was interesting, again, the characters just ruined it.

These characters didn't seem like real people, and didn't make the story into something that I wanted to read.

This is the first book by Michael Gregorio that I have read and although it was a well written book, I can't say that I really liked it. I found the little chapters about the wolf family to be distracting and didn't see their place in the story other than the fact that the main character is a park ranger. This well could be because I haven't read the first two books in this series. There are times that I have started in the middle of a series and have enjoyed it so much that I wanted to start at the beginning of the series. Unfortunately this just wasn't one of those times.
The story did move along quickly although the ending wasn't really what I was expecting. Again the wolves didn't really seem connected to the story for me.

I always get worried when there’s a list of characters at the beginning of a book as it normally means that there are going to be a lot of similar and complicated names to remember.

The story mostly takes place in Umbria in Italy. Mysterious dead bodies are found in Italy and England. This is a little bit of a detective story mixed with mafia and wolves.

The thing that turns me off is the killing of a dog and injured wolves suffering which is really are not needed for the story and normally I would not continue reading a book where a dog is killed.

Even though this book leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth the story is ok, well-written and moves at a good pace but I feel that it could be more detailed and involved.

Fatima

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

4.0 out of 5 starsGood gritty drama set in Umbria and London with Mafia links.
By Skye's Mum on 20 Jun. 2017
A good, gritty thriller. Some great descriptive writing, particularly about some of the more gruesome scenes. I couldn't get one out of my head for a few days...knowing how heavy billiard balls are! 😨
I thought that the way the story was divided up into different places, namely Italy and in London was good. I liked the history of the myth of werewolves that ran underneath the story.
The characters were good, Seb the park ranger, the authoritative Italian police chief and the bungling English detective who turned out to be not such a prodded in the end, I liked them all and wanted to read on.
I was saddened by the Brexit undertone in the book and the author makes an excellent point about the difficulties that our police force may have post March 2019...one still lives in hope that the U.K. will come to it's senses.
All in all I would definitely recommend this to both men and women and a great relatively quick read,well it was for me as I read it into the early hours.
Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Gregoria and publishers Seven House for the opportunity to read this ARC for an honest opinion

When you pick up a Michael Gregorio book, you know you are letting yourself in for a fun reading experience. He did it with the Hanno Stiffenis novels, and he is doing it again with his new recurring character, Sebastiano Cango.

Cango is an Italian national park ranger in Umbria, but he also finds himself as a Doctor Watson of sorts, assisting the Italian Carabinieri with their investigations. This brings him into frequent headbutting contact with the local Mafia gangsters, who are starting to tire of Cangio getting in the way of things, and want the troublesome ranger silenced forever. Luckily for Cangio though, the local Mafia Don decides not to rush that particular pleasure.

When that particular Mafia Don starts to go blind, he flies in medical specialists from all over the world. They end up being less than satisfactory, bringing their lives to a rather premature end. Meanwhile, a London gangster goes to Italy for treatment, and he and his minder end up horizontal too.

This all brings in the rather underwhelming inspector of New Scotland Yard, who cycles instead of drives, and who likes his pub lunches. When Captain Lucia Grossi of the Carabinieri decides to show Scotland Yard how real policing is done (plus to spend some quality time with the good inspector), she drags Cangio along to London.

The book has a rather surprising twist at the end, Gregorio really knows how to keep the pace going, and he introduces the uncertainty that will inevitably arise when Brexit becomes a cold hard reality. The Cangio series can easily go on and on, as it should.