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    The Curse of Pietro Houdini: A Novel
    The Curse of Pietro Houdini: A Novel
    The Curse of Pietro Houdini: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Curse of Pietro Houdini: A Novel

    Written by Derek B. Miller

    Narrated by Gabra Zackman

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A vivid, thrilling, and moving World War II art-heist-adventure tale where enemies become heroes, allies become villains, and a child learns what it means to become an adult—that “has the ring of truth and the echo of myth…[deserving of] all the lucky readers who discover it” (The Wall Street Journal).

    August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving a bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey’s shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed “Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,” rescues Massimo and makes him an assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls.

    But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a vivid cast of characters and together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the “safe keeping” of the Germans.

    Heartfelt, powerfully engaging, and in the tradition of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, this is a work of storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed art heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a poignant coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to tell the tale.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJan 16, 2024
    ISBN9781797170534
    Author

    Derek B. Miller

    Derek B. Miller is an American novelist, who worked in international affairs before turning to writing full-time. He is the author of five previous novels, all highly acclaimed: Norwegian by Night, The Girl in Green, American by Day, Radio Life and Quiet Time (an Audible Original). His work has been shortlisted for many awards, with Norwegian by Night winning the CWA John Creasey Dagger Award for best first crime novel, an eDunnit Award and the Goldsboro Last Laugh Award. How to Find Your Way in the Dark was a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and a New York Times best mystery of 2021.  Derek B. Miller is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College (BA), Georgetown (MA) and he earned his Ph.D. summa cum laude in international relations from The Graduate Institute in Geneva with post-graduate work at Oxford. He is currently connected to numerous peace and security research and policy centers in North America, Europe and Africa, and he worked with the United Nations for over a decade. He has lived abroad for over twenty-five years in Israel, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Switzerland, Norway and Spain.

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    Reviews for The Curse of Pietro Houdini

    4.5/5

    35 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is an extraordinary story! The insights n exposures of the human soul in war challenged my thinking n feelings in my life. Brilliant writing. Highly recommend!!
    • 5/5
      It combines history, the war treasures, painting, art travels Payne with some sort of an enthusiasm that I really enjoy. I would love to have another reading of another one of his books. I would say listen to this one if you can read it if you can.
    • 5/5
      Excellent. Gripping. Enlightening about the history of Italy. And...no sex!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This was a very well written book about the terror and lack of person it was for the women of Germany. It makes me wonder how many brainwashed women there is still in Germany. Not all of them could have died without brainwashing their children. So many people lost their entire families and will never escape the memories of terror. I hope to find a book of the life of women post war Germany. I just can't imagine.

      1 person found this helpful