Customer Reviews

The Sacred Cut

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Reviewers of this book seem divided, and I have to agree with those who enjoyed The Sacred Cut. What I admire about author Hewson is simply that he is a literate writer who knows how to create likeable, thoroughly human protagonists. They're not typical, they're not omnipotent, they're not even at the top of their field or their game. Nic is just learning, and gets better with every case. Peroni is a good cop who's made a serious mistake but takes responsibility for his own choices. Teresa is a tough as nails pathologist who is scared about love but willing to stick her neck out and hope for the best. As for his villains, Hewson also makes them credibly human. Terribly twisted but human. Some of the passages relating the killer's train of thought are downright chilling. While technically a police procedural, The Sacred Cut is more a story of ordinary, well-trained people trying to solve a horrendous crime and prevent its repetition while preserving their own sense of morality. If the plotting has flaws, they are more than over-ridden by Hewson's characterizations and by his remarkably cliche-free prose. The setting in the timeless city of Rome is icing on the cake.

It's five days before Christmas, and Rome is covered in snow. Braving the elements on this cold winter night are policemen Nic Costa and Gianni Peroni, accompanied by civilian Mauro Sandri. A photographer, Sandri is assembling a documentary on the policeman and their city.

Summoned to the Pantheon by a shaken security guard, the policemen are ambushed by an intruder, who begins shooting before fleeing into the night. The policemen are unharmed, but the photographer is fatally wounded. Later, a woman's body, bearing knife marks in the elaborate pattern of the so-called Sacred Cut, is found on the premises. Seeking justice for the photographer, Costa and Peroni begin searching for the murderer; their investigation will bring them into conflict with one of the strangest killers they've ever faced, a man out to settle scores with origins in the days of Desert Storm.

A happy blend of police procedural and international thriller, Hewson's third Nic Costa novel finds the trinity of Costa, Peroni, and their Chief, the irascible Leo Falcone, in fine form, fearlessly grappling with criminals, bureaucracies, significant others, and the American intelligence community in their pursuit of the truth. Providing laughter and thrills in equal amounts, Hewson makes it look easy.

The Sacred Cut is totally compelling, one of those rare thrillers which emphasizes character over action, although Hewson acquits himself admirably in that department as well. It's the attention Hewson lavishes on his entire cast that keeps readers' interest piqued; all the rest, as they say, is gravy.

I picked up this book because of the snowy scene of Rome on the cover. It's been a not-so-snowy winter here, so I thought I'd make up for it with a snowy novel. This was an excellent book and truly transported me. It was an intelligent novel with many twista and turns taking place over three days near Christmas. Hewson's characters are well developed and the end left me sympathetic to many of them and hoping for more in his upcoming novel to be relased in 2007. I'm going to go back and read some of his earlier novels in this Nic Costa series while waiting for "The Lizard's Bite" to be relased.

Mystery writing is always formula writing, but the better ones at least manage to add enough frills and gewgaws to conceal the equal signs and brackets. None of that here, we have formula and not much else. Lots of shadowy mumbo-jumbo in the plot, tracing vaguely -- but never intelligibly or convincingly -- back to the Gulf War. We don't expect fully drawn characters in detective procedurals, but most of these folks are as interesting as a lump of dough. Even the bad guy, it turns out, is pretty soft-hearted for a serial killer. And by the way, if this is a Nic Costa story, why doesn't Nic have any lines? At least three other characters figure more importantly in the investigation than he does.

Finally, in a book by a Brit, set in Rome with an Italian detective as its key character, I found it odd that the murderer, his victims, and the inevitable perky young blonde threatened by him, were all... Americans!? Just guessing here, but I envision publisher, editor, or author Hewson himself deciding to throw some Americans into the picture to enhance sales in the big U.S. market.

In David Hewson's "The Sacred Cut," a vicious killer is loose in Rome. Three Italian policemen, Nic Costa, Leo Falcone, and Gianni Peroni, become embroiled in an ugly situation when American intelligence agents, led by an obnoxious fellow named Leapman, ride roughshod over Italian law and attempt to take control after a brutally murdered woman is found in the Pantheon. The victim's back is covered with a strange pattern of marks carved with a scalpel. Also involved is Emily Deacon, an FBI agent with expertise in architecture and a knowledge of Italian. Emily's late father, Dan, had been a friend of the killer, and she has been brought to Rome to flush out the perpetrator before he takes another life.

Although the premise of "The Sacred Cut" is engrossing enough, there is far too much talk and too little action to sustain interest for 340 pages. The heroes are likeable, especially Gianni Peroni, a hulking and scarred policeman with a gentle heart, and Emily Deacon, a troubled woman who needs to find out how and why her father died. The villain is an ex-military man, who kills with expertise and is a master of disguise. Although he constantly hears voices in his head, he is lucid enough to pull off complicated schemes that keep the authorities off balance. The plot is almost incomprehensible, and even when the author reveals some key information later in the book, it is not enough to clarify all that has come before.

Hewson tackles a variety of issues, including the American government's interference in other countries' sovereign affairs, greed, political corruption, the horrors of war, and a person's need for closure after surviving traumatic experiences. The problem is that Hewson does not integrate his plot, themes, and characters in a convincing and compelling manner, and the pace of the story, especially in the second half, is sluggish. I love the Italian ambiance, and setting the book in the midst of a rare blizzard in Rome adds some interesting twists, but "The Sacred Cut" is not a book that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

I'm disappointed with this book. I picked it up as the back cover promised it to be "better than the Da Vinci Code" and featuring "bits of real antiquity". I find both statements highly exaggerated.
The writer hardly makes Rome a worthy character in the book, there are not enough vivid descritptions to capture the atmosphere of the city.
Other than Laila and Emily, the characters are not interesting enough to care. I find the dialogs to be illogical and often going nowhere. The language of the book does not flow efortlessly so that you can forget the outside world and picture the story in your imagination. There are some very awkward slang frases and repetitions. To quote just one: "Now a puzzled -looking fire crew were hosing down the damn thing in front of a small crowd of puzzled onlookers." (page 183) The author uses the word "puzzled" again two sentences later. All in all, nowhere near the level of writing of the DaVinci Code, if you must compare. Finally, the story ending is completely unrealistic, the transformation of a lose cannon murderer into a reasonable honorable kind of guy - I don't buy that. I love thrillers and spy novels, and frankly, this one is one of the worst constructed novels I've ever read.

Hewson's writing is engrossing. Early in the series, the characters will win you over and by this book, A Sacred Cut, their trials and tribulations really matter to you. That makes this dangerous, intriguing, multi-layer mystery all the more enjoyable.

In short, great book by a great author!

David Hewson's third novel in the Nic Costa, Rome Detective, series is the deepest character study yet - but short on action.

Hewson's knowledge of Rome as well as the history surrounding the area - including the Vatican - is quite apparent and each novel has peeled away more about each of the central characters. This novel was the least exciting in the series but is so well written and character driven that it was still a satisfying read. Including a U.S. military figure that may have lost his sanity to the point where he is performing ritualistic serial murders in the Rome area is a nice base for an intriguing tale of lies and deceipt that involve both the local and U.S. governments.

I am currently on the 7th novel in this series and still can not figure it out. Hewson has a way of making you think one thing and then blowing you away with the result. Can not get enough.

In Rome, Laila, a homeless Iraqi refugee seeks warmth from the wintry weather when she observes the brutal murder in the Pantheon. The victim is naked with mystical carvings etched into the flesh and positioned apparently to mimic Leonardo da Vinci's The Vitruvian Man. Roman detectives Gianni Peroni and Nic Costa places the witness under police protection with pathologist Teresa Lupo "mothering" theyoungster who saw so much death and destruction at home and now in Rome.

The two Italian cops investigate the homicide when FBI agent Joel Leapman orders them to back off or else while his Fed partner Emily Deacon tries to be diplomatic asking the locals to stay out of the case as it is part of a wider global investigation into a killer with no boundaries. Others Rome homicides occur, but neither Peroni or Lupo can understand the meaning of the religious symbolism and positioning of each corpse. The Italian police wonder whether it is a ritual killing or a calling card to play cat-and-mouse with the cops and are angry that the Feds know so much more but offer nothing to further the Roman inquiries.

The third Roman police procedural starring Peroni and Costa is a fabulous thriller that has the audience enticed and captured by the opening moment when Laila is introduced to the reader. The story line is filled with twists as the readers like the two local detectives wonder if a religious serial killer is at work and what is the culprit trying to accomplish. The Feds add obxiousness especially the rude Leapman while omitting what they know about the killer. Fans will fully appreciate this strong tale while wondering for most of the novel where David Hewson is guiding us.

Harriet Klausner