The Traitor (The Carnivia Trilogy)
Page 33
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Philip Baillieu for explaining the intricacies of credit default swaps, to Matt Styles for advice on strokes and to Anna Coscia for correcting my Italian. Any errors that remain are of course my own.
My thanks too to Laura Palmer, my editor and publisher, for maintaining her enthusiasm from the very first page of book one to the very last page of book three, and to Lucy Ridout for a mammoth feat of fact-checking and copy-editing.
I’m especially grateful to all those in Venice, Vicenza and Verona, from a full colonel of the Carabinieri to numerous peace campaigners, who made me welcome and helped with my research, and whose generosity of spirit right across the political spectrum reminded me why I love Italy so much.
And finally to my family, who for the last four years have lived with all these crazy conspiracy theories.
About The Traitor
He died in the darkness, surrounded by friends. They found him at sunrise, on Venice’s most popular beach. His throat had been cut, his tongue removed.
Captain Kat Tapo suspects a ritual murder with Masonic roots. The brotherhood won’t give up its secrets to a policewoman – but Kat won’t give up the hunt. She’ll use all the allies she has: friends, lovers, hackers, spies.
But shocking truths about the case are about to come to light. And when they do, it will be a race against time to unlock the secrets of Italy’s past – before Venice itself starts to burn…
Discover Italy’s secret history at www.carnivia.com
Reviews
THE BOATMAN
(previously published as The Abomination)
‘It’s rare to find a genuinely thrilling thriller that is also an illuminating portrait of a particular world, with characters as believable as any real-life acquaintance. The Abomination is a terrific book.’
Literary Review
‘Breathtaking. A truly haunting glimpse into a mysterious shadow world.’
New York Times
‘This cracking upmarket thriller is the first in a trilogy about a stonking conspiracy. This writer doesn’t take his readers for fools; a rare entertainment for the thinking deckchair reader.’
Saga magazine
‘Jonathan Holt blasts onto the thriller scene with a high-voltage, all-bets-are-off cracker. An intoxicating mix of thrills, horrors, fascinating characters, stunning locations and disturbing secrets – all held together by the clean and confident prose of a born storyteller.’
Crimesquad
‘Holt is impressive... Venice is a magnificent backdrop to this story of secrets and lies.’
Daily Mail
‘A successor to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy.’
Il Piccolo di Venezia
‘This remarkable debut is no ordinary mystery. Think Dan Brown without the clunky prose and the pompous PhD hero but with the fascinating mix of history, paranoia and real-life terror.’
Booklist
‘Excellent. The Abomination leaves you hungry for more.’
Chicago Tribune
‘Brilliant.’
Kirkus Reviews
‘A brilliant blend of fascinating storylines, serious issues, impeccable research, gripping intrigue and engaging characters. Eminently satisfying from start to finish.’
Library Journal
‘A superb thriller.’
Il Giornale
‘AWESOME. Two officers meet on a crime that initially seems quite traightforward until it unravels and escalates into an international network involving prostitution, war crimes and drug lords. This book is brilliant; to say it’s a page-turner is an understatement!’
Lovereading
About Jonathan Holt
When Jonathan Holt first travelled to Venice, he found it shrouded in thick fog and flooded with high water. This experience inspired him to write the Carnivia Trilogy: a series of thrillers based on Italy’s hidden history which capture Venice’s unique combination of glamour and decay.
The books in the Carnivia Trilogy have now become international bestsellers, published in 16 countries. The second novel in the trilogy was longlisted for a CWA Steel Dagger Award.
www.carnivia.com
About the Carnivia Trilogy
www.carnivia.com
In a filthy, freezing Venice, three strangers unearth dark secrets in Italy’s past that send shockwaves reverberating into the present.
Second Lieutenant Holly Boland of US army intelligence, in Venice on her first foreign posting, believes that in order to protect freedom, sometimes you have to break the law. Captain Kat Tapo of the Venice Carabinieri believes that it’s precisely the rule of law they should be fighting to protect.
Together with the reclusive Venetian aristocrat-turned-computer hacker Daniele Barbo, creator of the encrypted secrets-sharing website Carnivia, they unravel a web of corruption that stretches into the farthest reaches of the government, the military and the Church.
They will uncover miscarriages of justice dating back decades.
Now these unlikely allies must work together – and work fast – because there are men in the shadows of power who will do anything to ensure their secrets stay buried…
1 – The Boatman
(previously published as The Abomination)
The dead body of a woman priest. The powerful men who stonewall the case. The shocking truth that will rewrite history.
As fireworks crackle over Venice to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the freezing tides deposit a sinister bundle on the steps of Santa Maria della Salute. It is the body of a woman, dressed in the robes of a priest – what the Vatican calls an abomination.
Captain Kat Tapo of the Carabinieri has been pressing to work on a murder case – but she never expected anything as dark as this. A tattoo on the victim’s wrist matches graffiti in an abandoned lunatic asylum on an uninhabited island. Arcane symbols hint at rites by female cults. Then a journalist investigating war crimes at a nearby US Army base is found dead – and Kat’s case is immediately shut down.
Venice has always been a city of spies. Centuries ago, citizens hid their identity behind ornate Carnival masks. Now, they log on to Carnivia, a virtual Venice where anonymity is absolute. Here, behind layers of encryption, Kat will have no protection from her badge or rank – only from a reclusive computer hacker and a young American intelligence officer who share her need for answers. They all want the truth: did the drowned woman die because of what she believed? Or because of what she knew?
2 – The Dancer
(previously published as The Abduction)
It’s Carnival time, and Venice is one big party. No one notices the slim figure in the feathered mask wandering away from the crowd. No one hears her shout as a thick felt hood is pulled over her head. No one sees the van with blacked-out windows that carries her up into the hills.
Mia Elston is the daughter of a US army officer stationed near Venice. But who would snatch her, and why? Then a video appears on the anonymous website Carnivia.com. A terrified teenage girl, hanging by her shackled hands. A message scrolls across the screen: According to America, this is not torture. At 7pm, she will not be tortured…
Responsibility is claimed by an activist group demanding an end to US bases in Italy. But Captain Kat Tapo of the Venice Carabinieri isn’t so sure – and US intelligence analyst Holly Boland also has her doubts. The more the two women investigate, the more the case becomes as murky as the dark waters of Venice itself.
Reclusive hacker Daniele Barbo, Carnivia’s presiding genius, has never allowed the authorities to access his servers. But when secrets from Italy’s wartime past begin to surface, he must make a difficult choice. Will he betray his principles to help his friends? If the truth isn’t discovered in time, Carnivia itself could be in danger…
3 – The Traitor
He died in the darkness, surrounded by friends. They found him at sunrise, on Venice’s most popular beach. His throat had been cut, his tongue removed.
Capt
ain Kat Tapo suspects a ritual murder with Masonic roots. The brotherhood won’t give up its secrets to a policewoman – but Kat won’t give up the hunt. She’ll use all the allies she has: friends, lovers, hackers, spies.
But shocking truths about the case are about to come to light. And when they do, it will be a race against time to unlock the secrets of Italy’s past – before Venice itself starts to burn...
www.carnivia.com
A Letter from the Publisher
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HeadofZeusBooks
The story starts here.
First published in the UK in 2015 by Head of Zeus, Ltd
Copyright © Jonathan Holt, 2015
Jacket design: Anna Green at siulendesign.com
Jacket images: © Steve MacAulay/Getty Images and irisphoto1/Shutterstock
Author photo © Hugh Dickens
The moral right of Jonathan Holt to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Extract from ‘Cities and Thrones and Powers’ by Rudyard Kipling, first published in Puck of Pook’s Hill (1906).
Extract from ‘The Hacker Manifesto’ by The Mentor (Loyd Blankenship), originally published in Phrack (January 1986).
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN (HB) 9781781853757
ISBN (XTPB) 9781781853689
ISBN (E) 9781781853740
Head of Zeus Ltd
Clerkenwell House
45-47 Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
www.headofzeus.com
Contents
Cover
Welcome Page
Display Options Notice
Epigraph
Maps
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Historical Note
Acknowledgements
About The Traitor
Reviews
About Jonathan Holt
About the Carnivia Trilogy
An Invitation from the Publisher
Copyright
Table of Contents
Welcome Page
Display Options Notice
Epigraph
Maps
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Historical Note
Acknowledgements
About The Traitor
Reviews
About Jonathan Holt
About the Carnivia Trilogy
An Invitation from the Publisher
Copyright
Contents