Although I did enjoy the plot and the story as a whole, I wasn't a huge fan of the characters and I didn't enjoy the writing style so this was a DNF for me.

As it turns out, I am getting picky with all my thrillers including crime thrillers involving authority figures especially when it comes to police procedurals. There are some nice twists along the way, but overall it was just average to me.

I have tried a dozen times to get into this and have admitted defeat.

Let me start by saying I think the plot is a great idea, it mixes crime with psychology but I gave up, I really wish I could have stuck with it but it moved so slowly that after getting through the first point i felt like i had spent alot of time reading but getting nothing back - I just didnt connect, maybe its the ways its been translated but for me there too much filler and not enough action.

I normally gobble up books like this, however I just couldn't get into this one. Maybe I'm burned out on suspense/thrillers or I'm not in the right mindset to take on another book like this right now. I'd be happy to give it another try later on.

I was so excited to get this book, and when I first began I thought, oh, great. This is going to be like so many others I have read before. Hark! It was not! While you may think that at first, keep reading, there is so much going on with this gem. There is action, there is a mystery, there is a storyline that keeps you turning the pages. This is not just a book that affects you emotionally, but also mentally as well.

I usually do not like this type of thing, but I enjoyed the fact there was a past and present storyline. The two describes two events that come together in a suspenseful one. One problem, however. How do you have a crime you think is tied to another when the original is thought to be dead. Ahh... now you see the dilemma. .

Now, years later, a former victim must push aside a time he has tried to forget to stop a horrific crime from happening again, and save the life of another. Will he have the strength?

This was a great book, and I cannot wait to recommend it to friends and family.

4.5 Stars rounded to 5.

It all stars when a child goes missing, his mother beheaded and his father held in custody as the only possible suspect. When Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli is dragged into this investigation with the eccentric Dante Torre, she had absolutely no idea about the pandora box she was about to open. It was much more than just one case of missing child!

What caught me at the beginning, before the complexity of events, were the very intriguing and fascinating characters of the both Colomba and Dante. Two persons with nothing in common but dark pasts, she was surviving a Disaster happened during a case, he was trying to survive being kidnapped and imprisoned for 11 years by a deranged man calling himself "The Father".
One would think they must be very gloomy and depressing characters, but they were not, and that was what intrested me in them. I liked them a lot from the very beginning.

The story itself just kept getting more complicated with every chapter, i enjoyed the chapters that gave glimpses of the past, the mystery that surrounded the whole thing, the not knowing who was involved and who was not.
The only drawback was that towards the end, when things started to get clearer, i felt that the story was becoming wider than necessary, and also way more confusing than i felt it was necessary.
But that was compensated by the many final twists that did not end until the last line.

I also liked that the author kept some events a mystery even at the end. I felt that this was the kind of story where it was not logical to have closure for every single detail. It was not exactly a cliffhanger, more like it was left open to some speculation. I prefer it this way, it is more interesting and it kept me thinking about the events and the characters a long time after i finished reading. In fact i couldn't stop reading when i reached a certain point in the story, i just had to keep going.

This book was my first by Dazieri, it definitely won't be the last. I liked his style a lot and i enjoyed the book very much.
I would recommend it to all my friends.

This is a first in a new Italian crime series. I found this to be smoothly done and easy to get into from the start. The beginning hooked me and while the crime and background of some of the characters is beyond gruesome and disturbing, I felt it was all handled well by the author. This was definitely a suspenseful read and I am interested in more of the series with these characters.

As unlikely a buddy-cop pairing as you are likely to find, disgraced-on-leave Colomba is dragged back into the thick of things by ex-captive-espresso-addict Dante (now an unorthodox ace missing persons consultant). Kill the Father keeps the reader guessing throughout and his genuinely captivating leads and twists-a-plenty as the two trail after the aforementioned "Father" or "guy-that-kept-Dante-locked-up-in-silo-twenty-five-years-ago-and-referred-to-him-as-beast." As you may have gathered, subject matter makes it a read not for the faint of heart. But for those yearning for a who-don-it? with heart,humor, and surprise, Kill the Father left me ready for another Colomba-Dante case.

It is the first translated book by Sandrone Dazieri by Antony Shugaar and is a gripping and fast paced police thriller.

The beginning of the book introduces us to Dante who is a survivor of a horrible childhood case.

He is drawn in by the Italian police through Columba with his diagnostic abilities to solve a current murder investigation.

Columba herself is currently not working for the police and has been drawn in by her boss despite knowing her own dark history.

Little is as it seems and as their two lives intertwine, the story takes many twists and turns.
At no point is there any insta love only respect and this forms a strong friendship and understanding between them.

Apart from the two main characters and the pace of the book was the wonderful back drop of Rome and other Italian towns.

The twists and turns of the plot lines had you hanging on to the last 10 pages for a final conclusion and left it open ended for the next book in this series.

The only reason I gave it 4 and not 5 was sometimes I did feel like a little tid bit of information could of helped you through some of the drier parts of the book.

This is an exciting and complex book that keeps one guessing to the end. Lots of twists and turns, lots of thrills and mystery. Just when you think you know where the story is going, it turns another direction. Good thriller.

Kill the Father, the new release by Sandrone Dazieri, is a complex and thrilling murder mystery that will take you on quite the ride. Fast paced plot, dynamic characters, and intelligent writing had me reading late into the night. I couldn’t put this one down.
The novel opens with a bang. A boy is trapped in a silo. He explains that he is known as a “beast” when he does something horrible and as “son” when he does something good. He knows his keeper, the man who has kidnapped him and kept him captive, as “the father”. Super creepy right?! The tension, and pace, escalates as a mother is found decapitated and a son is missing. The case appears to be open and close, they arrest the woman’s husband and wait for a confession. The Deputy Captain call in Colomba Caselli and Dante Torre, both reeling from personal tragedy, must work together as they begin to unravel a case, far darker than either of them could imagine.
I was completed engrossed in these characters as the plot played out. In fact, the plot became secondary to me because these characters were so phenomenally written. Both characters were broken and dealing with their personal struggles but had some seriously redeeming qualities that it hard not to connect with them. Colomba was one of those kick-ass women characters that you want to see more of; she was smart and powerful. Dante was similar bringing comedic relief and wit. However, do not get it twisted, this plot was intense and complex. A perfectly blend of a mystery thriller and political police procedural, this one was intricately written. Truly, the author spared no detail. By the end, as the novel came to the conclusion, I was in complete shock.
As much as I loved this story, it is important to note that it is a longer read and I did find that some parts dragged a little (mostly in the middle). That is truly a small complaint compared to how much this novel had to offer. I cannot wait for more of Dante and Colomba and will be waiting patiently for the next installment. I gave this one a 4/5 stars.

A huge bestseller in Italy, it has finally been translated for the American market. Think Girl With the Dragon Tattoo meets Law and Order. The two main characters are highly appealing: Dante Torre, a middle-aged man who was kidnapped and psychologically tortured throughout his childhood, living now in an open-air apartment to deal with his claustrophobia, addicted to chemical relief and high-end coffee, highly sensitive reader of body language, provides help with kidnapping cases; his sidekick, Columba Caselli, deputy captain of the Italian police on medical leave, suffering from PTSD, tenacious, intelligent, and courageous, pulled back into police work when a child is taken and his mother viciously murdered. This is not a mystery for the faint-hearted or impatient (it is loooong), but it is well worth it. The story line, while extremely complex, is creative and compelling, filling in the pieces right when needed and pushing one to turn pages faster and faster. As a connoisseur of mysteries and thrillers, I often know 'who dunnit' before the end, but not in this case. This is an extremely well written and well developed novel that should find it a loyal audience here in America.

This book sets the bar by which all other thrillers I read this year will be measured. It was that good. Once again, a new (to me) author, though to be fair…my understanding is this is his first book translated to English (he’s Italian). And I’m fervently hoping that the next in series (I can see it on Goodreads, in the original Italian!) is translated to English and quickly. Now I know I say rather regularly that “I’ll definitely read the next in series at some point” (and I always mean it), but in this case, the minute I find out it’s available in English, I’ll be reading it. Post haste.

So, what do I love about it? The characters, especially the dynamic duo, are intriguing. Broken but functional. And such a brilliant pairing. Though their damage is very different in nature, they have an innate empathy for each other combined with a dogged determination to see each other succeed. And though their trauma has changed the way they do things, they still try. And in many ways, their past positively influences their approach, informing their thought process, opening them up to different ways of looking at each situation and person. Yes. I love Dante and Colomba. I hope to see more of them soon.

As for the story, at first it felt like watching The Silence of the Lambs for the first time. A movie that I love, by the by. There was this undercurrent of tension from the very beginning, and it slowly built up to the end. At some point along the way, I was determined I knew who the Father was, and I won’t lie…I was right. The seed that was planted was a bit too obvious for me, but that did not detract from the overall story. They why’s and the how’s remained to be discovered, and it was nothing I could possibly have imagined.

What can I say? I loved it. LOVED. IT. If I’d known it was going to be this good, I would have read it so much sooner. And I cannot wait for the next in series to be translated to English. In fact, I formally request that all Sandrone Dazieri’s books be translated to English. Yes. Please. And thank you.

First published in Italy in 2014; published in translation by Scribner on January 10, 2017

Kill the Father introduces two notable characters: Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli and Dante Torre. Both are finding ways to cope with traumatic pasts. They support each other after being thrown together in the search for a serial killer.

Caselli is on leave, recovering from a near-death experience that she secretly refers to as “the Disaster,” but she reluctantly agrees to join an investigation of a missing child, her last official act before submitting her resignation. Her boss wants her to investigate because somebody needs to step on the toes of bureaucrats, and Caselli has nothing to lose, given her plan to retire.

Torre has a talent for determining whether children who make accusations of sexual assault are merely repeating what they’ve been conditioned to believe by the other parent. He earns a living by selling that talent to lawyers. Dante is also an expert on missing persons. He was a kidnapping victim as a child and only gained his freedom after eleven years of captivity. Colomba turns to Torre for help locating the missing child.

Dante is one of the more interesting characters to appear in recent crime fiction. He’s claustrophobic and neurotic, but his quirks are a natural consequence of his horrendous childhood. Dante has developed an expertise at reading people (a more credible expertise than FBI profilers display in any number of bad crime novels), but he only wants to do so from a distance because he has a palpable aversion to emotional displays.

Colomba has issues of her own, stemming from the Disaster that she explains at the novel’s midway point. Colomba has lost her self-confidence and worries that she will make another bad decision that will result in more deaths. Some of her fellow police detectives think she’s come unhinged, which adds to her intrigue. And again, Sandrone Dazieri doesn’t overplay Colomba’s emotional fragility, as do so many modern thriller writers who imbue their protagonists with psychiatric quirks.

The plot is filled with surprises, most of which arrive just after it seems that the story has drawn to a close. I wondered what would fill the last 50 pages. None of the revelations were expected, but none are contrived. They all make sense in light of the previous events. The final pages build tension nicely. The deft plotting and the strong characters make Kill the Father one of the better Italian crime novels I’ve encountered.

RECOMMENDED

4.5 stars!

Kill the Father was an exciting thriller featuring two of the most memorable characters I've come across in years!

Deputy Captain Columba Caselli is recovering from a horrible bombing when her superior requests she look into a kidnapping case, even though she is still officially on leave. Dante Torre is a man still recovering from his boyhood kidnapping and subsequent 11 year incarceration by a man known only as "The Father." That's all I'm going to say about the plot.

These characters were so vividly drawn I can easily picture them right now-Dante with his endless coffee and cigarettes and Columba with her piercing green eyes and often sarcastic attitude. Together they are both damaged, but stronger because of it, and because of each other.

The pacing was mostly fast and there are lots of surprises, twists and turns, but I do feel that the book was just a tad too long. However, I never lost interest and in fact, I read the last 30% in one straight shot, because there was just no good place to stop-I had to see what happened. I was NOT disappointed!

Kill the Father was my first experience with author Sandrone Dazieri, but I hope it will not be my last. I just finished this book and I'm already missing Columba and Dante-so please, Mr. Dazieri, bring them back for another thriller!

Highly recommended for fans of thrillers and mysteries!

Kill the Father is now available here. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/150...

*Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

A woman is found beheaded and her 6 yr old son is missing - all signs seem to point to the woman's husband, who is arrested while law enforcement wait for his confession. The Chief of Rome's Major Crimes Unit goes around the typical procedures and brings in Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli and Dante Torre. Colomba has been off duty after surviving a bombing while on duty and is struggling with her PTSD. Dante Torre is the only known survivor of a kidnapping, in which he spent most of his childhood trapped in a concrete silo at the hands of "The Father". He also deals with his own PTSD issues, claustrophobia and OCD tendencies. They work together to solve this puzzle and end up finding out more than they had expected.

I can't remember the last time I've read a thriller where I didn't start trying to figure out what was going to happen, how it was going to happen and who committed the crime. I was so involved in the characters of Colomba and Dante that I just let the story roll through my head without any expectation or anticipations. The author did a fantastic job with their story lines and growth in their relationship as they worked together through the main plot of the story. He really brought everything together in such a seamless manner. I was surprised a few times and even when I thought it was over, there was another slap in the face that had me gasping.

Please, do NOT sleep on this one. I was hooked from the very beginning and did NOT want to put it down. You won't either.

Great book, hard to put down. Well-written with well developed characters. There is Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli, the main detective, who is working alongside Dante Torre, a child kidnapping survivor, whose kidnapper (the Father) may still be alive and involved in the case that Caselli and Torre are working on. The storyline was thrilling with some good twists. Great read, worth the time to read. I recommend it!

Excellent Italian police procedural

KILL THE FATHER is the first in a series (I am hoping) with two unusual protagonists that complement each other very well. First there is Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli of Rome, Italy's Major Crime Unit, and Dante Torre, a man that was held captive for many years in a concrete silo after being kidnapped as a child.

Both characters are complex and well presented by the author. Caselli has been on a well-deserved medical leave and is brought in on a new case on the sly by her boss, and Torre, terribly claustrophobic after his years in the silo, hires himself out as a consultant because of his almost magical ability to read people, and gets teamed up with Caselli.

A young boy has gone missing and, even though nobody except Caselli wants to believe him, Torre believes the same person who kidnapped him so many years ago is responsible.

I enjoyed this story immensely. The pacing, the character development, the different locales, the details about how the Italian police work - all were super. My only complaint is that it was a bit wordy and bogged down in the middle of the story.

In many ways, I guess because of the interaction between Caselli and Torre, this book reminded me of the Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffrey Deaver (and that is a compliment from me because that's a favorite series of mine).

Oh, and it was translated from Italian to English and the translator Antony Shugaar did a fine job.

So if you like police procedurals, thrillers, mysteries, suspense, or just a finely written book that's a bit different from the norm, try this one out.

I received this book from Scribner Books through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.