Catherine Ducane, daughter of the Governor of Louisiana, disappears and her bodyguard is discovered horribly mutilated in the boot of a vintage car. A major operation is launched to try and find her and plans made to capture her abductor – if this is a kidnap rather than a killing. However, when the man holding her contacts the authorities he doesn’t ask for money. He gives them the name of one man – the only man he will talk to. Ray Hartmann works for the organised crime task force in Washington DC. No one, least of all Hartmann, can figure out why the elderly Cuban Ernesto Perez has asked for him. Perez reveals he worked as a hit man for the Mob and only when Hartmann has listened to his life story will he tell him where Catherine Ducane is. Tied up in New Orleans, Hartmann will miss the “last chance” meeting he had finally won from his estranged wife and daughter.
As with his debut, Candlemoth, Ellory takes us on a breathtaking journey, mixing real life twentieth-century US history, events and characters with a compelling personal fictional story. He has the ability to make us feel compassion for even the most brutal characters and there are some shocking acts of violence in the narrative. There is a ticking clock pace to the narrative with regard to both Hartmann’s family obligation and the need to reach and rescue Catherine Ducane. Beautifully written with a knockout twist in the tale and an assured and completely believable depiction of Mafia life.
A Quiet Vendetta by
Roger Jon Ellory
