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Sign up todayThe Curse of Pietro Houdini
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Learn moreBookseller recommendation
“This is a fascinating story of Italy, WWII, and art (lots of art!) using real incidents, places, and characters. It is also a lovely, entertaining story about a crafty, charismatic older man, with a heap of secrets, bonding with a bereft child. A joy to read.”
— Deon • Sunriver Books & Music
Bookseller recommendation
“Fourteen year-old Massimo is orphaned when the Americans bomb Rome in 1943, and rescued by a mysterious but trustworthy aging man, who calls himself Pietro Houdini. Together they 'lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin' their way to survival, while rescuing priceless masterpieces from the art collection of the abbey of Montecassino. This fast-paced novel is heartbreaking, suspenseful, rich with history and embellished with Miller’s wit and humor. Narrator Gabra Zackman portrays the extensive cast of characters with affection, skilfully delivering Italian, German, French and English lines flawlessly. What an immersive audio! ”
— Cheryl • Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza
Bookseller recommendation
“This story follows a larger-than-life man and the young narrator he takes on as an apprentice to save Italian art from Nazi Germany. The narrator’s interiority is some of the best I’ve read and the character work is impeccable. Aside from being a technical masterpiece, the story itself is compelling and grounded. I found myself invested in every moment, whether they were hiding from American bombings or simply talking in a vault beneath the abbey of Monte Cassino. Overwhelmingly, this novel bleeds with love for one’s country, friends, and art. Explore human relationships with struggle, innocence, legacy, family, and the multifaceted self.”
— Maggie • Quail Ridge Books
A vivid, thrilling, and moving World War II art-heist-adventure tale where enemies become heroes, allies become villains, and a child learns what it means to become an adult—that “has the ring of truth and the echo of myth…[deserving of] all the lucky readers who discover it” (The Wall Street Journal).
August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving a bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey’s shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed “Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,” rescues Massimo and makes him an assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls.
But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a vivid cast of characters and together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the “safe keeping” of the Germans.
Heartfelt, powerfully engaging, and in the tradition of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, this is a work of storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed art heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a poignant coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to tell the tale.
Derek B. Miller is the author of six previous novels: Norwegian by Night, The Girl in Green, American by Day, Radio Life, Quiet Time, and How to Find Your Way in the Dark. His work has been shortlisted for many awards, with Norwegian by Night winning the CWA John Creasey Dagger Award for best first crime novel, among others. How to Find Your Way in the Dark was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and a New York Times best mystery of 2021. A Boston native, Miller lives in Spain with his family.
Gabra Zackman knows romance. Her clever and “thrilling romantic caper” (Library Journal) Bod Squad series was inspired by the more than one hundred romance and women’s fiction titles she has narrated for audio. She divides her time between her native New York City and Denver, Colorado.