The Silence of the Wave — Gianrico Carofiglio

A stand-alone thriller from best-selling Italian crime writer Gianrico Carofiglio, whose work has been translated into twenty-four languages. Every Monday and Thursday, Roberto Marías crosses Rome on foot for his appointment with his psychiatrist. There he sits in silence, flooded by memories. He remembers surfing with his father as a child. He remembers the treacherous years he spent working as an undercover agent, years that taught him how cynicism and corruption are not merely external influences but exist within us as well. His past has left him devastated, but now his psychiatrist's words, his hypnotic strolls through Rome, and a chance meeting with a woman named Emma -- who, like Roberto, is ravaged by a profound guilt -- begin to painfully revive him. And when eleven-year-old Giacomo asks Roberto to help him conquer his nightmares, Roberto at last achieves a true rebirth. A thriller about human faults, frailties, and the painful bond between fathers and sons. Praise for The Silence of the Wave: "A novel distinguished by the natural gift of prose as smooth and silent as a perfect wave." -- Paolo Di Stefano, Corriere della Sera "A literary jigsaw full of plot twists." -- Luciana Sica, La Repubblica