Liar Moon
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Praise for Ben Pastor's Lumen:
“Pastor’s plot is well crafted, her prose sharp. . . . A disturbing mix of detection and reflection.”—Publishers Weekly
"Rivets the reader with its twist of historical realities. A historical piece, it faithfully reproduces the grim canvas of war. A character study, it captures the thoughts and actions of real people, not stereotypes.”—The Free Lance-Star
“And don’t miss Lumen by Ben Pastor. . . . An interesting, original, and melancholy tale.”—Literary Review
Italy, September 1943. The Italian government switches sides and declares war on Germany. The north of Italy is controlled by the fascist puppets of Germany; the south liberated by Allied forces fighting their way up the peninsula.
Having survived hell on the Russian front, Wehrmacht major and aristocrat Baron Martin von Bora is sent to Verona. He is ordered to investigate the murder of a prominent local fascist: a bizarre death threatening to discredit the regime’s public image. The prime suspect is the victim’s twenty-eight-year-old widow Clara.
Haunted by his record of opposition to SS policies in Russia, Bora must watch his step. Against the backdrop of relentless anti-partisan warfare and the tragedy of the Holocaust, a breathless chase begins.
Ben Pastor, born and now back in Italy, lived for thirty years in the United States, working as a university professor in Vermont. The first in the Martin Bora series, Lumen, was published by Bitter Lemon Press in May 2011.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in German-occupied Italy in the fall of 1943, Pastor's second novel featuring Wehrmacht Maj. Martin Bora (after 2011's Lumen) finds Bora assigned by German headquarters in Verona to assist Italian Centurion Gaetano De Rosa in investigating the murder of a Fascist party notable, Vittorio Lisi. The death has been spun as resulting from natural causes in keeping with the facade that no one commits murder or suicide in Mussolini's Italy. In fact, the wheelchair-bound Lisi was struck by a car, and since his wife Clara's vehicle has a dent in its front fender, she's an obvious suspect. Lisi's dying message scrawling the letter C in the gravel also points to his widow, but Bora must consider others with motive for the killing, including political adversaries. Pastor succeeds at painting a memorable picture of Fascist Italy through the lens of ordinary police procedure carried out under extraordinary circumstances.
