The Book:
Veritas by Charles D’Amico, 2020
The Characters:
Neil Baggio
Maria
Frank Cappelano
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The Plot (from Goodreads):
Veritas by Charles D’Amico centers around the tough but frank Neil Baggio and his life after the Bureau. However, Neil is drawn back by the FBI because of an old case: that of his former FBI mentor and now serial killer, Franklin Cappelano. Cappelano, also tagged as ‘Veritas’ by the FBI, has an obsessive nature which made it difficult to get a handle on him. He would burn an insignia into his victim’s skin and each stamp was customized by the murderer himself. ‘Veritas’ enjoyed the thought of killing someone blissfully going about their day, completely unaware of the horror he had in store for them. Neil finds the former FBI agent to be a sick and twisted individual. This time, he is determined to play by his own rules and do all he can to catch this crazed killer.
The Ending:
The book ends with Neil holding a gun to Frank’s head in Frank’s house in Mexico. Neil is about to kill Frank, but his teammate calls Maria to get her to talk Neil down.
The Review:
Veritas is the perfect novel for fans of crime procedurals like CSI or Law and Order.
The author can get pretty wordy at times, with Neil going off on rambling trains of thought to the reader that don’t have much to do with the plot. This made the book a little longer than it needed to be, but the plus side is that the reader truly feels like they are inside the protagonist’s head, getting a blow-by-blow of his thought process. I feel like this style of writing would work even better as an audiobook!
Neil is a likeable and relatable main character, and the action kept the pages turning quickly. I enjoyed how the plot unfolded, with most scenes happening in the present as well as a few flashbacks to explain Neil and Frank’s relationship.
Minor spoilers ahead: this book ends on a huge cliffhanger. Luckily the next few books are already out, because it would be quite the bummer to have to wait to see what happens next!
Thank you to Blue Handle Publishing for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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