The Lost Girls of Rome
A secret sect worthy of a Dan Brown novel, the penitenzieri are a group of rogue Catholic clergymen who archive the admissions made in the confessional and then mete out justice on their own. When some of Rome’s most unrepentant killers are suddenly struck down, it seems that this centuries-old network is coming out of the shadows. Could this be the story that forensic analyst Sandra Vega’s journalist-husband was working on when he died? The brusque and mysterious Interpol agent Schalber certainly seems to think so. A race against the clock to find one killer’s final victim keeps the story moving, but Carrisi loses momentum with the introduction of a secondary fabulist plot regarding a transformationist. This multilayered thriller was a best-seller in the author’s native Italy, but, while it may attract attention here, readers are likely to come away something short of satisfied. --Karen  Keefe