Betrayal in Naples - Softcover

Griffiths, Neil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0670914606 ISBN 13: 9780670914609

Publisher: Viking, 2004

Synopsis

It may be the Neopolitan way, but I am not a Neopolitan. And something tells me I have made a very big mistake. . .
Jim Wolf came to Naples looking for a weekend of relaxation and possibly a little romance.

He didn't expect to meet Louisa, an ex-girlfriend from London. Even after ten years, Jim finds that there is still a powerful attraction.

He didn't know that she was married to Alessandro, a Neapolitan judge who is currently presiding over a murder case involving leading members of the Camorra, Naples' mafia.

He didn't intend, by visiting the trial, to raise the suspicions of the murderous crime lords.

Jim's ordinary holiday is about to take a erotic, dangerous turn for the worse.

In Naples, betrayal - of a friend, family and of oneself - is part of the way of life but sleeping with another man's wife is forbidden. Jim realizes that he needs to learn the unspoken ways of the city fast because he is becoming entangled in something he does not fully understand. To get what he wants he's going to have to risk everything, even his life.

Shocking, complex, compelling - Betrayal in Naples is an assured and powerful debut.

About this title

Review:

Neil Griffiths' first novel, Betrayal in Naples has the unsettling disjointed feel of the fever that hits Jim as he arrives in Naples for a weekend break--he is out of his normal place and nothing feels quite real. What follows is a sequence of accidents so arbitrary that they feel like fate.

A taxi driver delivers him to a pensione from which, when his fever breaks, he wanders into the street and meets the lost love of his life. Louisa turns out to be married to a judge who is trying a Camorra family; Jim wanders into his court and meets Giovanna, an unhappy daughter of criminals dissatisfied with her career prospects. Then again, everything that happens to Jim happens because of who he is--a burned-out romantic over-burdened with the desire to help people, to make a difference--and because of where he is--a city old in crime and cynicism and jealousy.

Griffiths writes powerfully about the fact that everything has consequences--his Naples is a mental territory as much as a set of streets, dazzling sunlight and ferociously hot pizza. He also writes well about character--the doomed Jim is a fascinating flawed hero whom we come to know well as his clock ticks down. --Roz Kaveney

Review:

'An atmospheric and claustrophobic tale...part thriller, part literary musing and part love story.' -- List

'An edgy romance and an excellent study in paranoia' -- Daily Telegraph

'Edge-of-seat stuff...as thrilling as it is erotic' -- Star

'Sharply written, finely paced. A gripping, visceral and pandemonious novel.' -- The Spectator

'Shocking and compelling' -- Big Issue

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0670914606
• ISBN 13: 9780670914609
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352