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Florence, 1986. A seemingly inexplicable attack on a church fresco of Adam and Eve brings together an unlikely couple: Julia Wellbeloved, an art student, and Pino Fratelli, a semi-retired detective who longs to be back in the field. Their investigation leads them to the secret society that underpins the city: an elite underworld of excess, violence and desire.
Rich in the culture of Tuscany's most mysterious city, The Flood takes a dazzling journey into the history of Florence, and to the darkness in Florence's past: the night of the great flood in 1966...
This is a dazzling Italian mystery, rich with culture, intrigue and dark secrets, from an internationally bestselling crime writer at the height of his powers. David Hewson's many bestselling works include The Killing and the Nic Costa crime series set in Rome.
This full length novel from David Hewson is an audiobook exclusive from Whole Story Audiobooks. It is narrated by Saul Reichlin, whose multi- award-winning audiobook narrations have attracted many thousands of listeners.
Rich in the culture of Tuscany's most mysterious city, The Flood takes a dazzling journey into the history of Florence, and to the darkness in Florence's past: the night of the great flood in 1966...
This is a dazzling Italian mystery, rich with culture, intrigue and dark secrets, from an internationally bestselling crime writer at the height of his powers. David Hewson's many bestselling works include The Killing and the Nic Costa crime series set in Rome.
This full length novel from David Hewson is an audiobook exclusive from Whole Story Audiobooks. It is narrated by Saul Reichlin, whose multi- award-winning audiobook narrations have attracted many thousands of listeners.
Audio CD
First published August 1, 2013
29 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
David Hewson
111 books521 followersDAVID HEWSON was born in Yorkshire in 1953. His books range from the Nic Costa series set in Italy to adaptations of The Killing in Copenhagen and the Pieter Vos series in Amsterdam.
He's adapted Shakespeare for Audible and in 2018 won the Audie for best original work for Romeo and Juliet: A Novel, narrated by Richard Armitage.
2019 sees the release of a new, full-cast Audible drama set in New York, Last Seen Wearing, and a standalone novel set in the Faroe Islands, Devil's Fjord.
Series:
Nic Costa
Pieter Vos
The Killing
He's adapted Shakespeare for Audible and in 2018 won the Audie for best original work for Romeo and Juliet: A Novel, narrated by Richard Armitage.
2019 sees the release of a new, full-cast Audible drama set in New York, Last Seen Wearing, and a standalone novel set in the Faroe Islands, Devil's Fjord.
Series:
Nic Costa
Pieter Vos
The Killing
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
September 6, 2015
First in the Pino Fratelli and Julia Wellbeloved thriller series set first in the Florence of Fratelli's memories of the flood in 1966 and now in 1986 and revolving around a disabled detective and a postgraduate student and former lawyer.
This ARC was sent to me by NetGalley and Severn House Digital for an honest review.
My Take
It's a strange book. Part of that is my own fault as I started reading it thinking the male protagonist was from Hewson's Nic Costa series set in Rome.
Instead, this is a two-part thriller with the primary story involving a pair of very likable characters: Pino Fratelli and Julia Wellbeloved. I do like Julia's surname, and it reflects how Pino feels about her. There's a prologue in here that provides the first trauma of Pino's life as a Jewish child in desperate straits during World War II. And I don't know why Hewson included this as it really doesn't play a role in the primary story.
On the whole, Hewson sets up a fascinating conflict for The Flood and infuses it with intriguing characters both good and bad. The art is why Julia is in Florence, researching why people commit vandalism to works of art and does provide a background, a reason, for her presence, but the real focus is on the politics and corruption of Florence, that of the past and today's as seen through Pino's psychological assessment of policework. The truth of that political past soured me on the idea of Florence, although its art does pull me back.
There are actually two conflicts in this: the purpose of the story and the problems that Pino faces. He's been shunted off onto the disabled list due to a tumor in his brain, and it's driving him mad. It's as if everyone around him has already written him off as dead. Despite his being an excellent detective, his colleagues all assume that anything he says is related to his tumor. Unfortunately, he does have episodes, but dang, it does not mean he's an idiot!
It really is lovely how Hewson tracks Pino's wending path through hostile policemen and his friend as he tries to solve this latest murder and reconcile it with his loss in 1966. And it's the ending that makes it all worthwhile.
I don't know if Hewson meant to give us a sense of Pino's trauma and how it affected his mind, but it's too vague. Some of that vagueness is due to Hewson's description of a possible victim's experience that night in 1966, for Hewson never lets on to what happened but implies the horror. He certainly doesn't make any connections between one horror and another.
It's also a strange blend of show and tell. There is so much in here that could have been intensified for its drama and tension, and Hewson's writing ebbs and flows between making us feel the story and telling us what's happening. No, the emotional "arm-waving" of the Italians does not count as show!
I am curious as to where Hewson plans to go with this. That ending does leave it open.
The Story
Florence, 1986. A seemingly inexplicable attack on a church fresco of Adam and Eve brings together an unlikely couple: Julia Wellbeloved, an art student, and Pino Fratelli, a semi-retired detective who longs to be back in the field.
Their investigation leads them to the secret society that underpins the city, and back to the darkness in Florence's past: the night of the great flood in 1966.
The Characters
Guiseppe "Pino" Fratelli is the name Father Peter gave him. In 1986, he is a maresciallo ordinario of the Florence Carabinieri (police). Chiara Brunelli was his wife. A gorgeous woman within and without whom Pino adored. Signora Grassi is the dragon who does his housecleaning. Signor Grassi runs a café.
The Borgo Ognissanti Carabinieri station in Florence
Capitano Walter Marrone is Pino's best friend and his boss; Bella is his ex-wife. Luca Cassini is one of the carabinieri, a big guy who enjoys playing rugby. His father is a Florentine councillor and merchant selling quality leather goods. Hewson's implications that Cassini is unfit for the job, but has Pino finding good in him, could use some work, as there's nothing that shows this either way. Luca's Uncle Silvio has an olive farm. Marco, Albani and Nucci are some of the officers. Dr. Ambra Neri is a consultant seeing to Pino's health. Rossi is the records officer.
Julia Wellbeloved is a twenty-eight-year-old English academic embarking on studies for her second career. Doing research in Florence, she has taken a room in Pino's home. Benjamin Vine is her ex-husband.
Florentine politicians include…
Sandro Soderini is the mayor and a cowardly participant full of his own and his Medici ancestors' importance. Giovanni "Vanni" Tornabuoni is the arts commissioner. Well, he is in name. He's a bisexual beast, a vicious predator. Franco Mariani is the director of the museum at San Marco.
Aristide "Ari" and Chavah Efron Greco are running an organic olive farm.
Frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel are vandalized. Father Bruno Lazzaro is the parish priest at Santa Maria del Carmine and seems to be part of the Brancacci with Pino as one of his parishioners.
November 4, 1966
Ludovico Ducca is a cadet partnered with Pino; now he's a guard at the Pitti Palace. An older Cassini, Luca's grandfather, had stopped Pino from going out into the flood. Piero owned a bar and was grateful for aid provided.
Aldo Pontecorvo was seventeen (the bastard son of a crazy woman who lived in a shack in the Biboli Gardens) and employed by Bertorelli, a butcher and the organizer for the La Brigata Spendereccia.
October 30, 1942
Father Peter is the Catholic priest who saved Ariel Montefiore who was born in 1938. Father Peter delivered him to a spinster in Oltrarno. Ariel's communist parents, Gideon and Esther, were sent to Porto Re in Yugoslavia and then Auschwitz. Il Duce, a.k.a., Mussolini, was a fascist dictator in Italy during World War II.
La Brigata Spendereccia is a monthly excess of food and sex for the select of Florence with 240 members. The cops are told to stay away.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a scene from within the story with Cellini's sculpture of Perseus holding the head of the slaughtered Medusa in the Loggia dei Lanzi. It's a sober cover with the grays of the sculpture and the browns of the buildings and the roiling sky in the background.
The title is that pivotal moment, The Flood, when Pino loses everything he loves.
This ARC was sent to me by NetGalley and Severn House Digital for an honest review.
My Take
It's a strange book. Part of that is my own fault as I started reading it thinking the male protagonist was from Hewson's Nic Costa series set in Rome.
Instead, this is a two-part thriller with the primary story involving a pair of very likable characters: Pino Fratelli and Julia Wellbeloved. I do like Julia's surname, and it reflects how Pino feels about her. There's a prologue in here that provides the first trauma of Pino's life as a Jewish child in desperate straits during World War II. And I don't know why Hewson included this as it really doesn't play a role in the primary story.
On the whole, Hewson sets up a fascinating conflict for The Flood and infuses it with intriguing characters both good and bad. The art is why Julia is in Florence, researching why people commit vandalism to works of art and does provide a background, a reason, for her presence, but the real focus is on the politics and corruption of Florence, that of the past and today's as seen through Pino's psychological assessment of policework. The truth of that political past soured me on the idea of Florence, although its art does pull me back.
There are actually two conflicts in this: the purpose of the story and the problems that Pino faces. He's been shunted off onto the disabled list due to a tumor in his brain, and it's driving him mad. It's as if everyone around him has already written him off as dead. Despite his being an excellent detective, his colleagues all assume that anything he says is related to his tumor. Unfortunately, he does have episodes, but dang, it does not mean he's an idiot!
It really is lovely how Hewson tracks Pino's wending path through hostile policemen and his friend as he tries to solve this latest murder and reconcile it with his loss in 1966. And it's the ending that makes it all worthwhile.
"The sin is to allow ourselves to be fixed by the opinions and the desires of others. Whether through fear or laziness. Better to be … than a trapped bird in an ugly cage, crammed into a pre-formed mould that the world wishes filled…"The negatives to The Flood include how much Hewson implies. It's confusing and frustrating as you can't always tell who is speaking (I still can't tell), when the character groups switch, and the vagueness of the implications and the actions. Of course, it didn't help that I let days go between reading it. Yes, part of my avoiding it was wanting to avoid crying over the story, but also because of how confusing it was. It would have helped if Hewson had employed text separators in this as well as an initial name for each person at the start of each switch in conversation.
I don't know if Hewson meant to give us a sense of Pino's trauma and how it affected his mind, but it's too vague. Some of that vagueness is due to Hewson's description of a possible victim's experience that night in 1966, for Hewson never lets on to what happened but implies the horror. He certainly doesn't make any connections between one horror and another.
It's also a strange blend of show and tell. There is so much in here that could have been intensified for its drama and tension, and Hewson's writing ebbs and flows between making us feel the story and telling us what's happening. No, the emotional "arm-waving" of the Italians does not count as show!
I am curious as to where Hewson plans to go with this. That ending does leave it open.
The Story
Florence, 1986. A seemingly inexplicable attack on a church fresco of Adam and Eve brings together an unlikely couple: Julia Wellbeloved, an art student, and Pino Fratelli, a semi-retired detective who longs to be back in the field.
Their investigation leads them to the secret society that underpins the city, and back to the darkness in Florence's past: the night of the great flood in 1966.
The Characters
Guiseppe "Pino" Fratelli is the name Father Peter gave him. In 1986, he is a maresciallo ordinario of the Florence Carabinieri (police). Chiara Brunelli was his wife. A gorgeous woman within and without whom Pino adored. Signora Grassi is the dragon who does his housecleaning. Signor Grassi runs a café.
The Borgo Ognissanti Carabinieri station in Florence
Capitano Walter Marrone is Pino's best friend and his boss; Bella is his ex-wife. Luca Cassini is one of the carabinieri, a big guy who enjoys playing rugby. His father is a Florentine councillor and merchant selling quality leather goods. Hewson's implications that Cassini is unfit for the job, but has Pino finding good in him, could use some work, as there's nothing that shows this either way. Luca's Uncle Silvio has an olive farm. Marco, Albani and Nucci are some of the officers. Dr. Ambra Neri is a consultant seeing to Pino's health. Rossi is the records officer.
Julia Wellbeloved is a twenty-eight-year-old English academic embarking on studies for her second career. Doing research in Florence, she has taken a room in Pino's home. Benjamin Vine is her ex-husband.
Florentine politicians include…
Sandro Soderini is the mayor and a cowardly participant full of his own and his Medici ancestors' importance. Giovanni "Vanni" Tornabuoni is the arts commissioner. Well, he is in name. He's a bisexual beast, a vicious predator. Franco Mariani is the director of the museum at San Marco.
Aristide "Ari" and Chavah Efron Greco are running an organic olive farm.
Frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel are vandalized. Father Bruno Lazzaro is the parish priest at Santa Maria del Carmine and seems to be part of the Brancacci with Pino as one of his parishioners.
November 4, 1966
Ludovico Ducca is a cadet partnered with Pino; now he's a guard at the Pitti Palace. An older Cassini, Luca's grandfather, had stopped Pino from going out into the flood. Piero owned a bar and was grateful for aid provided.
Aldo Pontecorvo was seventeen (the bastard son of a crazy woman who lived in a shack in the Biboli Gardens) and employed by Bertorelli, a butcher and the organizer for the La Brigata Spendereccia.
October 30, 1942
Father Peter is the Catholic priest who saved Ariel Montefiore who was born in 1938. Father Peter delivered him to a spinster in Oltrarno. Ariel's communist parents, Gideon and Esther, were sent to Porto Re in Yugoslavia and then Auschwitz. Il Duce, a.k.a., Mussolini, was a fascist dictator in Italy during World War II.
La Brigata Spendereccia is a monthly excess of food and sex for the select of Florence with 240 members. The cops are told to stay away.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a scene from within the story with Cellini's sculpture of Perseus holding the head of the slaughtered Medusa in the Loggia dei Lanzi. It's a sober cover with the grays of the sculpture and the browns of the buildings and the roiling sky in the background.
The title is that pivotal moment, The Flood, when Pino loses everything he loves.
March 7, 2019
This is an interesting book that on occasion makes no sense at at all which is perhaps the state of affairs in Italian and perhaps Florentine politics.
The book opens in Rome in 1942, where a young Jewish boy is about to be smuggled out of the city to escape the authorities. Then it moves between Florence in 1966 and the same city twenty years later in 1986. In that last, most prominent period, a former Carabinieri police inspector, Pino Fratelli, has been put out of active duty due to a tumor in his brain. He does finds himself with an interesting English lodger, Julia Wellbeloved. She used to be a barrister and changed careers after her divorce and starts studying art. And lets face it Florence is the center of the Renaissance so its history is steeped in art and violence attached to the art.
There’s an attack on some real-life works of art in the Brancacci Chapel and Pino starts to think the attack is much more serious than the authorities seem to think, and he draws Julia into the search for the truth behind them. The next vicious crime is a decapitation and public display of the said head. Another finger pointing in Florence history.
The Key and title to this book is the section set in 1966 when the city of Florence was devastated by a flood, one which cost many lives and it did change the city's face in ways which are still visible and tangible today.
This story is about history and the cities elite that still finds itself living in a style that is untouchable and as influential as the rulers of the old days and any consequence or damage can easily be covered up. The rulers of Florence have always been more obsessed with enforcing its power than looking for an answer.
The whole story is situated in Florence, even if it is the less touristy part of Florence and it tells about its art treasures and its famous inheritance of great names who did walk the streets of Florence and were part of the history of this once powerful City-state.
It is an interesting book by Hewson whose books are always well documented and researched. It is an so so mystery that plays across 50 years and has questions and answers for the main character Pino Fratelli who is to busy to look for answers that have been unanswerable for the last twenty years when he found his wife dead after the flood.
While the book celebrates the history of Florence it also celebrates life and how to live it.
And interesting and fun book to read.
The book opens in Rome in 1942, where a young Jewish boy is about to be smuggled out of the city to escape the authorities. Then it moves between Florence in 1966 and the same city twenty years later in 1986. In that last, most prominent period, a former Carabinieri police inspector, Pino Fratelli, has been put out of active duty due to a tumor in his brain. He does finds himself with an interesting English lodger, Julia Wellbeloved. She used to be a barrister and changed careers after her divorce and starts studying art. And lets face it Florence is the center of the Renaissance so its history is steeped in art and violence attached to the art.
There’s an attack on some real-life works of art in the Brancacci Chapel and Pino starts to think the attack is much more serious than the authorities seem to think, and he draws Julia into the search for the truth behind them. The next vicious crime is a decapitation and public display of the said head. Another finger pointing in Florence history.
The Key and title to this book is the section set in 1966 when the city of Florence was devastated by a flood, one which cost many lives and it did change the city's face in ways which are still visible and tangible today.
This story is about history and the cities elite that still finds itself living in a style that is untouchable and as influential as the rulers of the old days and any consequence or damage can easily be covered up. The rulers of Florence have always been more obsessed with enforcing its power than looking for an answer.
The whole story is situated in Florence, even if it is the less touristy part of Florence and it tells about its art treasures and its famous inheritance of great names who did walk the streets of Florence and were part of the history of this once powerful City-state.
It is an interesting book by Hewson whose books are always well documented and researched. It is an so so mystery that plays across 50 years and has questions and answers for the main character Pino Fratelli who is to busy to look for answers that have been unanswerable for the last twenty years when he found his wife dead after the flood.
While the book celebrates the history of Florence it also celebrates life and how to live it.
And interesting and fun book to read.
November 3, 2016
Written with a spareness, a cultural and historical literacy, and an insight into character that I've come to expect from David Hewson; the author has lived for years in Italy. The story includes fascinating details about the city of Florence, its rather bloody history, and its dark underbelly. For example, the priest Savonarola, his Bonfire of the Vanities, and his subsequent execution by his political enemies features in the narrative.
Related to a quotation from Savonarola, the theme of "the flood" echoes on multiple levels, and I felt deep sympathy for the downtrodden, traumatized man who is the killer in this suspense novel. (Don't worry, there's no spoiler here: you'll know, as a reader, who the killer is fairly early on; this is a suspense novel, not a mystery, after all.) The flood motif occurs literally, in the great Florence flood of 1966, and in a bad storm that hits the city in 1986, the novel's present narrative time. But Savonarola's mention of a figurative flood of damnation and blood also motivates the story's key action.
Related to a quotation from Savonarola, the theme of "the flood" echoes on multiple levels, and I felt deep sympathy for the downtrodden, traumatized man who is the killer in this suspense novel. (Don't worry, there's no spoiler here: you'll know, as a reader, who the killer is fairly early on; this is a suspense novel, not a mystery, after all.) The flood motif occurs literally, in the great Florence flood of 1966, and in a bad storm that hits the city in 1986, the novel's present narrative time. But Savonarola's mention of a figurative flood of damnation and blood also motivates the story's key action.
January 2, 2021
Looking for a good Italian mystery/police procedural I discovered The Flood, set in Florence, by David Hewson. I had read Hewson's Nic Costa crime series of novels mostly set in Rome and enjoyed those. Hewson is a master at describing the setting and art; his vivid descriptions of Florence brought back memories of my travels there.
Pino Fratelli, a detective on medical leave and Julia Wellbeloved an English graduate art student are the main characters. The story moves from 1986 to flashbacks to the great flood of 1966 which killed more than 30 people and damaged countless pieces of art and Renaissance manuscripts. Pino's wife was murdered during the flood and vandalism of a fresco brings back a long buried memory.
The plot was a bit too orchestrated and requires some giant leaps in logic and more than a few less believable situations and episodes to reach the climax. Plus I think there are too many Negroni's and other diversions which slows down the pacing.
A good but not great Italian getaway.
Pino Fratelli, a detective on medical leave and Julia Wellbeloved an English graduate art student are the main characters. The story moves from 1986 to flashbacks to the great flood of 1966 which killed more than 30 people and damaged countless pieces of art and Renaissance manuscripts. Pino's wife was murdered during the flood and vandalism of a fresco brings back a long buried memory.
The plot was a bit too orchestrated and requires some giant leaps in logic and more than a few less believable situations and episodes to reach the climax. Plus I think there are too many Negroni's and other diversions which slows down the pacing.
A good but not great Italian getaway.
August 5, 2013
Student Julia Wellbeloved arrives in Florence to write a paper on vandalism to works of art, she's bright and eager and pairs up an ex-policeman on permanent sick leave, he's restless, frustrated and just wants to be of use, so latches onto an attack of a church fresco and the puzzles it throws up like a lifeline and is determined not to be put aside, but to solve the mystery.
Set in 1986 they are pulled into the goings on with the powerful untouchable Medici both past and present being inextricably linked to the great flood in 1966. This is a mystery thriller, rich in history, murder, and plot, being narrated superbly by Saul Reichin,
Pinot is a wonderful character, grumpy, taciturn, with a great sense of duty, you learn the reasons for this and why he feels he never really belonged, his story and character I lapped up. Julia's no-nonsense strong character complimented Pinot's perfectly, I liked the way she took no foolish nonsense, and her independent sometimes stubborn manner.
The telling is multi layered, with a dark undertones, well developed characters and an engaging storyline, this is my first time with David Hewson, and I want more...
Set in 1986 they are pulled into the goings on with the powerful untouchable Medici both past and present being inextricably linked to the great flood in 1966. This is a mystery thriller, rich in history, murder, and plot, being narrated superbly by Saul Reichin,
Pinot is a wonderful character, grumpy, taciturn, with a great sense of duty, you learn the reasons for this and why he feels he never really belonged, his story and character I lapped up. Julia's no-nonsense strong character complimented Pinot's perfectly, I liked the way she took no foolish nonsense, and her independent sometimes stubborn manner.
The telling is multi layered, with a dark undertones, well developed characters and an engaging storyline, this is my first time with David Hewson, and I want more...
April 22, 2023
Interesting read the Flood by David Hewson.
What caught my attention was the cover, & another author spoke of him.
Why not see what this author has to offer.
So 16 years ago in 1966 there was a great flood in Florence Italy 🇮🇹 .
The Arno river over ran it's bank and flooded the city of Florence with water and mud.
Pino Fratelli, a carabinieri officer & his wife Chiara were impacted by this flood.
When its all said and done. Pino once his duties to helping the citizens of Florence is done, heads home to help his wife clean and put their place back together.
But once he arrives home, he finds his wife has been murdered.
From there nothing is the same.
It's 1986 and Julia Wellbeloved comes to Florence to write her dissertation and recover from a failed marriage.
Her host happens to be Pino Fratelli. He's the ultimate tour guide.
While touring Florence, they come across a church that had been vandalized.
But something about the scene troubles Pino.
With Julia's help , they are on a quest to find out what really happened to his wife & what the secret society called the Brigata Spendereccia had to do with it.
Of course they get help along the way.
The Flood by David Hewson was interesting. It gave some background history and talked about the famous artist 🎨 Cellini, the bells 🔔 of Santa Maria del Carmine, & the Palazzo Vecchio.
I felt like a tourist.
Enjoy ...
Happy Reading 📚!!!
Ciao💋
What caught my attention was the cover, & another author spoke of him.
Why not see what this author has to offer.
So 16 years ago in 1966 there was a great flood in Florence Italy 🇮🇹 .
The Arno river over ran it's bank and flooded the city of Florence with water and mud.
Pino Fratelli, a carabinieri officer & his wife Chiara were impacted by this flood.
When its all said and done. Pino once his duties to helping the citizens of Florence is done, heads home to help his wife clean and put their place back together.
But once he arrives home, he finds his wife has been murdered.
From there nothing is the same.
It's 1986 and Julia Wellbeloved comes to Florence to write her dissertation and recover from a failed marriage.
Her host happens to be Pino Fratelli. He's the ultimate tour guide.
While touring Florence, they come across a church that had been vandalized.
But something about the scene troubles Pino.
With Julia's help , they are on a quest to find out what really happened to his wife & what the secret society called the Brigata Spendereccia had to do with it.
Of course they get help along the way.
The Flood by David Hewson was interesting. It gave some background history and talked about the famous artist 🎨 Cellini, the bells 🔔 of Santa Maria del Carmine, & the Palazzo Vecchio.
I felt like a tourist.
Enjoy ...
Happy Reading 📚!!!
Ciao💋
February 6, 2019
I have no idea what this book is about. It is all over the place with un comprehensible names thrown in here and there. Orgies that are not orgies, unexplained events, terrorists? Going to past events that are poorly explained.
A crusty old man who has issues which are never explained; concerned friends who do nothing.
A supposed love affair between him and a woman 20 years his junior.
It is a load of crock. Dialogue is poor, story line is a disaster, theme is not there.
Not worth the first page.
Not recommended
A crusty old man who has issues which are never explained; concerned friends who do nothing.
A supposed love affair between him and a woman 20 years his junior.
It is a load of crock. Dialogue is poor, story line is a disaster, theme is not there.
Not worth the first page.
Not recommended
January 21, 2024
What can I say about this book? It was pretty awful yet I read it to the end. The writing was flowery and hyperbolic. Drove me nuts. It was also confusing and unclear. Yet I kept on reading it.
The two stars I have given are for the setting and the art research. Florence and its history made it worthwhile finishing.
The two stars I have given are for the setting and the art research. Florence and its history made it worthwhile finishing.
February 26, 2024
Set in Florence Italy in 1966 and 1986, this novel has everything I want in a thriller: complex characters, an interesting setting, and suspense,
September 24, 2015
The Flood by David Hewson
4 out of 5 stars
The beauty and art of the city of Florence is juxtaposed with its dark and deadly side.
In late October 1942 a four-year-old boy is smuggled out of German-occupied Rome by one of the priests.
In November 1966 a seventeen-year-old boy, Aldo Pontecorvo, has been subjected to abuse at the hands of some of Florence’s senior figures.
How these two boys meet up later in life is the meat of this beautifully written novel.
It is November 1986 and Pino Fratelli, that four-year-old, and now a member of the Florence Carabinieri, is a white-haired forty-eight-year-old. He is on sick leave and, accompanied by his new English tenant, Julia Wellbeloved, they are in the Brancacci Chapel viewing some new desecration of the art works. Julia, a post-graduate student is working on a dissertation entitled ‘Why Murder Art’, hoping to discover why members of the public attack works of art. Unbeknown to them, this ‘minor’ damage in the Chapel is going to escalate into something more sinister. Could it be that the famous 1966 ‘Great Flood of Florence’ holds the secret of Pino’s sickness and what ties him and Pontecorvo together? (Considered the worst flood in the city's history since 1557, over one hundred people were killed and millions of masterpieces of art and rare books were destroyed.)
Pino is the bane of his friend and superior Captain Walter Marrone, and when he suspects that the attacker might be harbouring some darker and more dangerous motives, Marrone tells him in no uncertain terms that he is on sick leave and must have nothing to do with the case. Pino, of course, has other ideas.
This book is not just a thriller, although it could stand alone as such. It is also a voyage into the history and art of the city of Florence, the city of the Medici, Benvenuto Cellini, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Savonarola, Machiavelli and many others, and we are treated to lessons in the travails between the various rival factions of this glorious city.
I found this book to be very enjoyable and would highly recommend it.
Sméagol
Best Selling Crime Thrillers received an advanced copy of the book to review
4 out of 5 stars
The beauty and art of the city of Florence is juxtaposed with its dark and deadly side.
In late October 1942 a four-year-old boy is smuggled out of German-occupied Rome by one of the priests.
In November 1966 a seventeen-year-old boy, Aldo Pontecorvo, has been subjected to abuse at the hands of some of Florence’s senior figures.
How these two boys meet up later in life is the meat of this beautifully written novel.
It is November 1986 and Pino Fratelli, that four-year-old, and now a member of the Florence Carabinieri, is a white-haired forty-eight-year-old. He is on sick leave and, accompanied by his new English tenant, Julia Wellbeloved, they are in the Brancacci Chapel viewing some new desecration of the art works. Julia, a post-graduate student is working on a dissertation entitled ‘Why Murder Art’, hoping to discover why members of the public attack works of art. Unbeknown to them, this ‘minor’ damage in the Chapel is going to escalate into something more sinister. Could it be that the famous 1966 ‘Great Flood of Florence’ holds the secret of Pino’s sickness and what ties him and Pontecorvo together? (Considered the worst flood in the city's history since 1557, over one hundred people were killed and millions of masterpieces of art and rare books were destroyed.)
Pino is the bane of his friend and superior Captain Walter Marrone, and when he suspects that the attacker might be harbouring some darker and more dangerous motives, Marrone tells him in no uncertain terms that he is on sick leave and must have nothing to do with the case. Pino, of course, has other ideas.
This book is not just a thriller, although it could stand alone as such. It is also a voyage into the history and art of the city of Florence, the city of the Medici, Benvenuto Cellini, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Savonarola, Machiavelli and many others, and we are treated to lessons in the travails between the various rival factions of this glorious city.
I found this book to be very enjoyable and would highly recommend it.
Sméagol
Best Selling Crime Thrillers received an advanced copy of the book to review
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March 7, 2016I couldn't but think of Hewson's Nic Costa series set in Rome and start to compare characters. Leo Falcone and Marrone. Peroni and... Fratelli. Elizabeth and Emily. That last is the best comparison; the others are a stretch on may part. What a setting, the 1966 flood in Florence. I've hankered after fiction set in that drama for a long time--having enjoyed The Sixteen Pleasures many years ago. Seventeen years now, wow. Hewson puts you in the settling, in this case the very center of Florence. The space between the Brancacci Chapel, the Palazzo Vecchia, and the Pitti Palace is very small. One wonders at Fratelli getting on a bus at all; it's faster to walk. The farthest afield we went was Fiesole and San Marco. When I listed this on Goodreads; I saw that it's number one in a new series. At first I wondered how he could create a series, given the protagonist's back story, but Hewson will find a way. I'll definitely look for the next in this series.
The opening ten pages took us from 1942, 1966, and 1986, but I managed to keep up.
p. 17 "Vengeance never dug a single grave."
55 Julia Wellbeloved (what a name!) orders my fav Italian breakfast: cappuccino and cornetto all crema. I always thought it was con crema; learn something new every day.
69 evil is evil. Saves nothing. exists side by side.
p. 111 the 1966 flood description begins.
The opening ten pages took us from 1942, 1966, and 1986, but I managed to keep up.
p. 17 "Vengeance never dug a single grave."
55 Julia Wellbeloved (what a name!) orders my fav Italian breakfast: cappuccino and cornetto all crema. I always thought it was con crema; learn something new every day.
69 evil is evil. Saves nothing. exists side by side.
p. 111 the 1966 flood description begins.
May 5, 2016
Set in Florence in 1986, twenty years after the catastrophic flood, the book combines art history and criminal investigation and twenty years of Florentine politics and corruption in an engaging fashion. The two protagonists, detective Pino Fratelli, on medical leave for a serious brain illness, and his tenant, English post graduate art history student Julia Wellbeloved are both appealing characters in a relationship that develops from strictly professional to something more personal over the course of their investigations.
First there is a minor bit of vandalism to a fresco, which touches on Julia's research. Pino is fretting at his enforced inactivity and starts poking around the edges, much to the annoyance of his former boss and several wealthy and powerful figures. The mayor invites Julia to a meeting of La Brigata Spendereccia, a private club for libertines. One of its other members, the arts commissioner, a viscous sexual predator is murdered. As Pino is drawn into this case as well, he is brought back to the unsolved rape and murder of his wife during the 1966 flood, while he was on emergency duty.
The plot comes together well and the descriptive passages and setting are very well done. The miasma of corruption and the intertwined affairs of the wealthy and powerful have echoes of the excesses of the Medici court. It's a satisfying read on several levels.
First there is a minor bit of vandalism to a fresco, which touches on Julia's research. Pino is fretting at his enforced inactivity and starts poking around the edges, much to the annoyance of his former boss and several wealthy and powerful figures. The mayor invites Julia to a meeting of La Brigata Spendereccia, a private club for libertines. One of its other members, the arts commissioner, a viscous sexual predator is murdered. As Pino is drawn into this case as well, he is brought back to the unsolved rape and murder of his wife during the 1966 flood, while he was on emergency duty.
The plot comes together well and the descriptive passages and setting are very well done. The miasma of corruption and the intertwined affairs of the wealthy and powerful have echoes of the excesses of the Medici court. It's a satisfying read on several levels.
May 10, 2023
I was happy to find this stand-alone David Hewson, as I have not found his other series in area bookstores. Set in Florence, Italy, this disturbing tale spans from the Arno flood of 1966, through to 1986, and gathers together personal, political and historical threads all drenched in the blood of a brutal city's past.
Hewson takes a disabled policeman, Pino Fratelli, unites him with a visiting English art student, Julia Wellbeloved, and links her interest in violent acts against artworks with Fratelli's search for a cold case killer--the murderer of his own wife during the 1966 Flood. Together they gather clues and evidence tying a desecration of artwork in a historic Cathedral with a new murder, brazenly displayed in the Piazza Della Signoria's statuary portico. As Fratelli battles against his being sidelined by cancer, Julia becomes emotionally involved in the hunt for a man glimpsed in the dark, who strongly resembles the monk Savonrola, in religious fervor as well as righteous anger at public corruption.
As a one-time visitor to the city of Florence, this volume reminded me of the beautiful city's dark underpinnings, and Italy's history of organized crime and political corruption.
This novel contains unsettling descriptions of murders, abuse and violence.
Hewson takes a disabled policeman, Pino Fratelli, unites him with a visiting English art student, Julia Wellbeloved, and links her interest in violent acts against artworks with Fratelli's search for a cold case killer--the murderer of his own wife during the 1966 Flood. Together they gather clues and evidence tying a desecration of artwork in a historic Cathedral with a new murder, brazenly displayed in the Piazza Della Signoria's statuary portico. As Fratelli battles against his being sidelined by cancer, Julia becomes emotionally involved in the hunt for a man glimpsed in the dark, who strongly resembles the monk Savonrola, in religious fervor as well as righteous anger at public corruption.
As a one-time visitor to the city of Florence, this volume reminded me of the beautiful city's dark underpinnings, and Italy's history of organized crime and political corruption.
This novel contains unsettling descriptions of murders, abuse and violence.
July 10, 2015
The Flood is one of those books that has elements that will appeal to both art history fans and psychological thriller readers.
I was attracted to it because I was travelling to Italy this summer and it was an opportunity to be entertained while learning about the history of Venice, particularly the devastating floods in the late 20th Century.
There is a very dark undercurrent to this book and I generally steer clear of novels that really unsettle me, but Hewson's two protagonists are so appealing that I was totally drawn in.
There is no shortage of mysteries featuring art theft or forgery, but The Flood has a fresh approach. It uses the works of art as clues to understand the actions and motivation of a very troubled person. The initial crime was not significant, but real creativity was required to see beyond the initial act of violence.
This was a compelling story that also provides a short course on the history of Venetian art and politics.
Netgalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was attracted to it because I was travelling to Italy this summer and it was an opportunity to be entertained while learning about the history of Venice, particularly the devastating floods in the late 20th Century.
There is a very dark undercurrent to this book and I generally steer clear of novels that really unsettle me, but Hewson's two protagonists are so appealing that I was totally drawn in.
There is no shortage of mysteries featuring art theft or forgery, but The Flood has a fresh approach. It uses the works of art as clues to understand the actions and motivation of a very troubled person. The initial crime was not significant, but real creativity was required to see beyond the initial act of violence.
This was a compelling story that also provides a short course on the history of Venetian art and politics.
Netgalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 18, 2015
The Flood -- David Hewson
Picture it ... Florence, 1986. Adam and Eve. Our heroine is called Julia Wellbeloved. Our hero is Pino Fratelli.
How can you go wrong?
Julia, an art student, is doing research on art vandalism. Her path crosses Pino, a former cop, and together they try to figure out the reason behind an attack of a church fresco of Adam and Eve.
Through their research, the reader learns more about the history of Florence, like the flood of 1966 -- an important fact.
What can I say, I'm a sucker for anything Italian: food, wine ... books!
I honestly enjoyed The Flood thanks to David Hewson's attention to detail and brilliant plot sculpting.
I can recommend this to anyone with an Italian yearning and an adventurous side.
Picture it ... Florence, 1986. Adam and Eve. Our heroine is called Julia Wellbeloved. Our hero is Pino Fratelli.
How can you go wrong?
Julia, an art student, is doing research on art vandalism. Her path crosses Pino, a former cop, and together they try to figure out the reason behind an attack of a church fresco of Adam and Eve.
Through their research, the reader learns more about the history of Florence, like the flood of 1966 -- an important fact.
What can I say, I'm a sucker for anything Italian: food, wine ... books!
I honestly enjoyed The Flood thanks to David Hewson's attention to detail and brilliant plot sculpting.
I can recommend this to anyone with an Italian yearning and an adventurous side.
November 10, 2013
Well read, and generally enjoyable, but a couple of niggles pushed it down to a three star rating for me. I would read / listen to another David Hewson book, but more if I come across one rather than seeking them out. The final section left me with a strange mixture of lack of real drive to listen to the conclusion, yet there was plenty going on, so it was not an anti-climax. I am left struggling to explain what I did or did not like about the book - I think that the best I can do is to say that I found it interesting and therefore enjoyable, but not gripping.
August 4, 2020
Excellent writing skill by David Hewson though I have to admit I wasn't too captivated by the story. Not intense and thrilling for my taste but simply an enjoyment of his exquisite prose. Characters in the novel are believable and intriguing enough, reminded me of the Q Department by Jussi-Adler Olsen. I have to admit I wanted to give up the story by my threshold of 100 page but somehow it just grabbed me and surprisingly I finished the book. Not to undermine the novel in any sense just that I was expecting more intensity, like Da Vinci Code.
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December 13, 2015Crime novel set in Florence covering two seperate periods, 1966 (the flooding of Florence) and 1986 (the anni di piombo, the years of lead when the brigate rosse terrorized Italy).
Like all Hewsons books this book is a combination of art works and detective.
Story about an ex caribiniere on sick leave, an English art history major and a (maybe) not so bright young caribinieri cadet. Thrilling read, with lots of details about Florence and its art.
Like all Hewsons books this book is a combination of art works and detective.
Story about an ex caribiniere on sick leave, an English art history major and a (maybe) not so bright young caribinieri cadet. Thrilling read, with lots of details about Florence and its art.
August 13, 2013
I have always enjoyed Hewson's books, particularly his Roman police series. This book, set in Florence, is excellent. Marvellous descriptions of the 66 floods - I have friends who went to help with the clean-up, and how libraries and museums developed new techniques for dealing with disasters. The characters are beautifully drawn, and the reading excellent.
November 25, 2015
I really like this start of a new mystery series set in Florence. The protagonists, a former Carabiniere officer and an art graduate student, work together well. Fans of Donna Leone would probably enjoy this one!
March 18, 2016
Another fab book by David Hewson! An eccentric Italian police officer, an English woman studying Italian art, a young police officer and a madman! All the components for a great story filled with art, death and love.
September 8, 2013
Great! Just finished The Flood as I was doing my baking (via audible.co.uk) nearly burnt my lemon drizzle cake!
I don't want to say anything else as I would not like to spoil it for others
I don't want to say anything else as I would not like to spoil it for others
August 27, 2025
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Liked the return to art in Italy.
January 15, 2016
review coming
April 16, 2016
slow start but got to where I didn't want to put it down
December 30, 2013
Set in Florence 20 year after the flood of 1966. Usual Hewson linking of stories
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April 3, 2016Strange book. Liked Pino and the way he thought. A little Florence history goes a long way.
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