Killing Ground - Softcover

Gerald Seymour

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593041631 ISBN 13: 9780593041635

Publisher: Bantam, 1997

Synopsis

Two ruthless men...one innocent woman...caught in a deadly embrace. Mafia kingpin Mario Ruggerio--as elusive as he is brutal--has built an empire on the blood of his enemies. U.S. Federal Agent Axel Moen has sworn to bring the Sicilian down, no matter how, no matter who pays the price. And now he's found a away to penetrate the Ruggerio family through Charlotte Parsons, a former nanny in the home of Mario's brother, and the perfect pawn in this brutal game. Drawn into a web of deception, betrayal, and sinister political intrigue, Charlotte discovers there's no one she can trust--her survival will depend solely on her own instincts and courage. Because in this high-stakes game, losing means certain death...in the killing ground.

About this title

From AudioFile

This is an intricate thriller about drug-running and double cross, which includes the Mafia and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Caught in the cat-and-mouse game is Charlotte Parsons, an English schoolteacher and sometime nanny to the Mafioso. Seymour's elliptical plotting and opaque style demand concentration from the listener. Narrator Jonathan Oliver competently keeps us involved and oriented within the complex plot, though the author's abrupt scene changes can confuse even a good listener. American listeners may find the English version of American accents unconvincing, and all the Sicilians tend to sound alike. Otherwise, this is an able delivery of a complicated tale. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Kirkus Reviews

An utterly unsentimental and elegantly crafted tale of the global drug trade, from the immensely accomplished Seymour (The Heart of Danger, 1995, etc.). Axel Moen, a Rome-based DEA operative, recruits a young Englishwoman named Charlotte (Charley) Parsons to help him bring La Cosa Nostra's aging capo to some sort of justice. Four years earlier, Charley had spent a happy summer working as a nanny at the home of Giuseppe (Peppino) Ruggerio, the younger, university- educated brother of Mario, a cunning, elusive fugitive who heads LCN. When his unhappy wife gives birth to a third baby, Peppino (a virtuoso at laundering large sums of dirty money) invites Charley to resume her post as a mother's helper and companion. Cautioning Charley to lie low until the appearance of Mario (the target of the DEA's campaign), Moen keeps a lonely, nerve-wracking watch over his confidential informant as she goes about her household duties in the high-rent district of Sicily's blood-drenched capital. Then Peppino attracts the attention of Scotland Yard on a flying visit (under an alias) to the UK. Subsequent inquiries disclose that an American agency has plucked a local rose without telling the host country's law-enforcement agencies; with noses out of joint, the buck is passed up the line to ranking functionaries in Washington, who decide that the diplomatic as well as political risks are too great. The order comes down to abort the operation. Before the withdrawal directive can be executed, however, all hell breaks loose on the killing grounds of Palermo. In a show of power, Mario issues a contract on a troublesome magistrate (who dies in a spectacular car bombing) and then boldly comes out of hiding for a family celebration. At the close, the forces of good have won a famous victory, albeit one whose high cost makes it bittersweet. An arresting saga of the world that turns on menace, mistrust, moral ambiguity, and vaulting ambition. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0593041631
• ISBN 13: 9780593041635
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464