Review - The Florentine

Title: The Florentine (Goodreads)

Author: Tom Trott

Publisher: Independently Published
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Age Group: Adult

Source: Author (ARC)

Before you check out my review below I would like to give a big thank you to Tom Trott for giving me the chance to read his new book before publication! Please proceed with caution as there may be minor spoilers. Thank you!

Review

The Florentine is definitely worth a read if you are a fan of fast paced, live action crime thrillers. From the very opening pages you are transported into a book which has non stop action and drama, there is never a dull moment! That said because you enter the book instantly I did personally feel a bit jolted by the instantaneous action because it read as if it was part of a continuation on a series and that you should have read the previous book. However, that did not make this book any less enjoyable for me and future readers hopefully. In fact the abrupt but excitable action from the opening sequence led me to want to know more and created such an exciting suspense and intrigue.

‘She hurried to the stairs. A pair of heavy male footsteps were clattering up the floors. They were coming for her. Without looking down, she pulled herself up the stairs taking two at a time. She burst into the corridor above hers and ran to the opposite end of the building. Then she entered the other stairwell and leapt down the six flights three steps at a time, four steps at a time, the impact jolting up through her knees, until she reached the street. Her heart was kicking against her ribs. She had to catch her breath. A mist had risen off the bay…’

I also really enjoyed the relationship and dynamic between Dolly and Cain. They are in some ways a crime fighting duo. If you have watched Elementary with the gender adapted Holmes and Watson then this is as close as a comparison I can suggest. In particular Dolly was an interesting woman who took no nonsense from men and was willing to prove she was no damsel in distress but an intelligent woman not to be undermined. She even at one point has Cain question himself and his current circumstances as well as who he should trust, like I said not because she is trying to be duplicitous, but rather because she is exploring their situation from a more distanced impersonal perspective. Also, it seems that Cain from his perspective finds being challenged by someone rather refreshing, irrespective of Dolly’s gender, and is in those moments the more vulnerable individual too trusting of their friends unwilling to believe they can be manipulated and betrayed.

‘How did they know your route?’ she asked. ‘What?’ ‘How did they know your route? You said yourself it was an ambush, they had to know what route you would take. At the very least they had to know where you were going.’ Cain was silent for a minute. ‘I should have spotted that. Thank you. That’s very sharp of you.’ ‘I’m an NSA technician, Cain, I’m not an idiot.’

Finally what is an exhilarating crime thriller without a good antagonist. Nearer the end of the novel we meet Liese, the crime boss, kick-a** villain. She is definitely no weak hearted vulnerable woman, she is brutal, vicious and unfeeling. Liese will find all your weaknesses and use them to trap and destroy you little by little. Moreover, she is rather fond of a torture trick that she learnt from her father which she uses to control people and situations, pain and control are her most powerful weapon, she is most certainly not someone you would like to underestimate just because she is a woman and arguably more violent than even some male antagonists that can be found in crime thrillers.

‘[Liese] paused for effect. No one said anything. She knew she had their attention and Dolly hated it. ‘You see, our deepest fears are not animals, or items, or people, they’re scenarios. And I know what your scenario is. The one that keeps you awake at night.’

Synopsis (From Goodreads)

When Cain retired from the CIA, he moved to Florence, Italy to get away from his past.

He’s had nine years to enjoy fine wine, good food, and the Tuscan countryside.

But now his old boss has tracked him down, and he needs Cain to do one last job.

What starts as a simple trade entangles Cain in a web of secrets involving the mafia, an NSA whistleblower, and his own past.

With the Italian police and international assassins on his trail, he'll have to survive the night to solve the mystery of who wants him dead.

Key Quotes

‘I guess I’d been growing disillusioned ever since I properly read about Snowden, listened to the things he said. Disillusioned is a good word for it, because what you realise when you wake up to it all is that our moral superiority, our claim to be the good guys, is just a myth we tell ourselves. It stops us asking questions of our government. Of our colleagues. Even ourselves.’

‘[…] When you’re an immigrant it’s difficult to feel at home anywhere, but maybe it’s why I’m suited to this life. I imagine you find it more difficult.’

‘[...] Every time corruption and hypocrisy are exposed it turns one, or ten, or ten thousand people’s heads, and makes them see the world the way it is, even if just for a moment.’

Tom Trott

Afterthoughts

I loved the scenic setting of the Italian countryside and meeting the crime family headed by Gaspare Gallo. I really enjoyed the family values and loyalties they had, especially the small but sentimental moments of love shared by the dad & brothers.

If you loved The Florentine, or my review has inspired you to pick it up then please go and check out the other exciting books written by Tom Trott.

Which country would you like to be sent to as a spy?