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Tarot
Dan Caponigro, nicknamed Cap, resigned from the FBI when his daughter Laurie, still a baby, was kidnapped and murdered by a sect of worshipers of Satan. Since then, he has devoted his energy to researching murderers who have never been identified and is taking part in seminars as a specialist in esotericism. One day, after one of his lectures on occult crimes, a participant, a young policeman, suggests that he examine a few snapshots of the scene of a crime he is investigating. Looking at the photos, Cap realizes that the killers have left as a signature a pentacle identical to the one engraved ten years earlier near the corpse of his daughter.
In an isolated country church of a small black community, the pastor found a naked, white man in his twenties, hung by one foot at the cross of a large wooden cross standing behind the altar. Under the victim's head, a pentacle traced on the pavement with his blood. This particular sign takes Cap ten years back to the murder of his own daughter. The assassins have never been arrested but Cap finds their signature in this new crime, staged as a figure of the tarot. Other murders come to confirm the hypothesis of Cap, who launches on the track of the killers.
In Miami, Jodie works in a newspaper eager for fresh events. Responsible for covering bizarre crimes, she is interested in a woman pierced by ten bayonets and realizes that it is the reproduction of a figure of the tarot. Jodie and Cap join to intercept the satanists, but if Jodie dreams of an article able to earn her the Pulitzer prize, Cap thinks only to destroy them to satisfy his revenge.
By the author of “The Dream of Broken Horses” who himself owns more than four hundred tarot decks, William Bayer, known for his superbly crafted thrillers, cleverly explores the world of tarot lovers. A magisterial dive into the half-animal, half-divine world of witchcraft.
In an isolated country church of a small black community, the pastor found a naked, white man in his twenties, hung by one foot at the cross of a large wooden cross standing behind the altar. Under the victim's head, a pentacle traced on the pavement with his blood. This particular sign takes Cap ten years back to the murder of his own daughter. The assassins have never been arrested but Cap finds their signature in this new crime, staged as a figure of the tarot. Other murders come to confirm the hypothesis of Cap, who launches on the track of the killers.
In Miami, Jodie works in a newspaper eager for fresh events. Responsible for covering bizarre crimes, she is interested in a woman pierced by ten bayonets and realizes that it is the reproduction of a figure of the tarot. Jodie and Cap join to intercept the satanists, but if Jodie dreams of an article able to earn her the Pulitzer prize, Cap thinks only to destroy them to satisfy his revenge.
By the author of “The Dream of Broken Horses” who himself owns more than four hundred tarot decks, William Bayer, known for his superbly crafted thrillers, cleverly explores the world of tarot lovers. A magisterial dive into the half-animal, half-divine world of witchcraft.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
14 people want to read
About the author
William Bayer
53 books28 followersWILLIAM BAYER is the author of nineteen fiction and non-fiction books. Thirteen of his novels are now available in ebook and audiobook editions. His books have been published in fourteen foreign languages. Two of his novels, Switch and Pattern Crimes, were New York Times best sellers.
Bill was born in Cleveland, Ohio, son of an attorney-father and screenwriter-mother ( Eleanor Perry). He was educated at Phillips Exeter and Harvard where he majored in art history. His Harvard honors thesis was an analysis of a single painting by Paul Gauguin: “D’où venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous?” For six years he served in Washington, Vietnam and New York as an officer with the U. S. Information Agency. He has been a grantee of The American Film Institute and The National Endowment of the Arts.
His novels have won the following awards: Peregrine (The Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel, aka “The Edgar”); Switch, (the French Prix Mystère de la Critique); Mirror Maze, (the French Le Grand Prix Calibre 38); The Magician’s Tale (The Lambda Literary Award for Best Mystery); The Dream Of The Broken Horses (the French Prix Mystère de la Critique).
His novel, Switch, was the source for seven television movies, including two four-hour mini-series. In all of them the main character, NYPD Detective Frank Janek, was played by the actor Richard Crenna. All seven movies were broadcast nationally by CBS in prime time.
Bayer is married to food writer, Paula Wolfert. They have lived in Paris, New York, Connecticut, Tangier (Morocco), and San Francisco. They currently reside in the Sonoma Valley, an area North of San Francisco which Jack London called “The Valley of the Moon.”
Bill was born in Cleveland, Ohio, son of an attorney-father and screenwriter-mother ( Eleanor Perry). He was educated at Phillips Exeter and Harvard where he majored in art history. His Harvard honors thesis was an analysis of a single painting by Paul Gauguin: “D’où venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous?” For six years he served in Washington, Vietnam and New York as an officer with the U. S. Information Agency. He has been a grantee of The American Film Institute and The National Endowment of the Arts.
His novels have won the following awards: Peregrine (The Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel, aka “The Edgar”); Switch, (the French Prix Mystère de la Critique); Mirror Maze, (the French Le Grand Prix Calibre 38); The Magician’s Tale (The Lambda Literary Award for Best Mystery); The Dream Of The Broken Horses (the French Prix Mystère de la Critique).
His novel, Switch, was the source for seven television movies, including two four-hour mini-series. In all of them the main character, NYPD Detective Frank Janek, was played by the actor Richard Crenna. All seven movies were broadcast nationally by CBS in prime time.
Bayer is married to food writer, Paula Wolfert. They have lived in Paris, New York, Connecticut, Tangier (Morocco), and San Francisco. They currently reside in the Sonoma Valley, an area North of San Francisco which Jack London called “The Valley of the Moon.”
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 9, 2021
un thriller valable, mais une ambiance profondément déplaisante - l'amérique profonde dans toute sa splendeur, avec ses personnages plus que bizarres, ses sectes, ses quartiers glauques, chaleurs et déserts étouffants, ensuite montréal où règne le froid - avec en plus une histoire d'amour assez peu crédible mais après tout pourquoi pas !
je n'ai vraiment pas accroché aux personnages pour les apprécier, je n'ai éprouvé aucune sympathie pour eux - 2 étoiles sans plus
je n'ai vraiment pas accroché aux personnages pour les apprécier, je n'ai éprouvé aucune sympathie pour eux - 2 étoiles sans plus
September 23, 2025
Comment c'était nul ! Mal traduit, mal construit, prévisible as fuck et j'attends toujours le twist...
May 6, 2016
Thriller sur fond de tarot. Chaudement conseillé aux amateurs de cet art divinatoire.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews