Alibi: A Novel - Hardcover

Kanon, Joseph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 080507886X ISBN 13: 9780805078862

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 2005

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of Los Alamos and The Good German comes a riveting tale of love, revenge and murder set in postwar Venice

It is 1946, and a stunned Europe is beginning its slow recovery from the ravages of World War II. Adam Miller has come to Venice to visit his widowed mother and try to forget the horrors he has witnessed as a U.S. Army war crimes investigator in Germany. Nothing has changed in Venice-not the beautiful palazzi, not the violins at Florian's, not the shifting water that makes the city, untouched by bombs, still seem a dream.

But when Adam falls in love with Claudia, a Jewish woman scarred by her devastating experiences during the war, he is forced to confront another Venice, a city still at war with itself, haunted by atrocities it would rather forget. Everyone, he discovers, has been compromised by the Occupation-the international set drinking at Harry's, the police who kept order for the Germans, and most of all Gianni Maglione, the suave and enigmatic Venetian who happens to be his mother's new suitor. And when, finally, the troubled past erupts in violent murder, Adam finds himself at the center of a web of deception, intrigue, and unexpected moral dilemmas. When is murder acceptable? What are the limits of guilt? How much is someone willing to pay for a perfect alibi?

Using the piazzas and canals of Venice as an enthralling but sinister backdrop, Joseph Kanon has again written a gripping historical thriller. Alibi is at once a murder mystery, a love story, and a superbly crafted novel about the nature of moral responsibility.

About this title

About the Author

Joseph Kanon is the author of three novels, The Good German, Los Alamos, and The Prodigal Spy. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a book publishing executive. He lives in New York City.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Alibi:
The whole room gleamed with gold, dimming now, people hushing, the orchestra starting. Something moved over my finger and I jumped-Claudia's hand, reaching over just to touch.
She didn't turn her head and I saw that her eyes were shiny, her whole attention given over to the music. Now I heard it too. Rodolfo's love song, so beautiful that it seemed no one could have written it, just found it, floating somewhere above the ordinary world. If this was possible, anything was. I looked down at her hand. We could be happy. Why shouldn't it work? Gianni was gone and we had an alibi. The Germans had gotten away with murder, the whole world. Even in Venice, as beautiful as the music, everyone had an alibi, somewhere else when the air raid sirens covered the sounds of people being dragged off. I didn't know. I didn't realize. I had my own life to consider. And, of course, everyone did.

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 080507886X
• ISBN 13: 9780805078862
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416