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Veritas by Charles D'Amico
3 Stars
Paperback

Neil Baggio has adjusted to life after the Bureau, finally accepting he may never close the case of his mentor-turned-famed-killer, Cappelano.

But Cappelano isn't finished with his student yet. Neil is still in need of his teachings, and Cappelano will do everything in his power to finish the lesson.

After a rash of killings by Cappelano, Neil is drawn back into the Bureau and his unfinished business with his mentor. But to finally put things to an end, he won't play by the Bureau's rules again. He'll have to color outside the Bureau's lines if he's going to catch Cappelano once and for all.

Mystery novels are my guilty pleasure. I love nothing better than a good police procedural with characters that are willing to cross the line in the name of justice. Combine that with a unique story line of a former partner and mentor turned into a serial killer and Veritas seemed like a novel I would not be putting down and the Neil Baggio series one that I would be consuming greedly.

Don't get me wrong, there was a great deal about this book that I really enjoyed. Neil Baggio is a character in the same vein as Harry Bosch. Tough as nails, willing to work on his own while playing his cards close to his vest, and yet be a lover and a kind hearted man all at the same time. For any faults this book has, Neil Baggio as a character is not one of them.

I also really liked the plot line. There was enough realistic elements to keep me engaged and yet it was fantastic enough that I was not worried about it being believable. In other words, I knew it was fiction and I loved getting sucked in to the story.

The only real problem with the book, and it is a huge problem, is the editing. If the book was edited it was done so very poorly. Entire passages were wrong because the time changed within the passage. The internal dialogue was confusing and weighty. In general, the book could have been about 75 pages shorter and would have been much improved.

I am still giving this book three stars because I genuinely liked the characters and found the story line engaging. I will still likely read the second book in the series because I want to know what happens, but I sincerely hope more effort was given to refining the series as it moves forward.