I hadn’t read the first book in the series but felt that this still worked as a stand-alone. Storyline was tense and exciting. Very long novel but great characterisation

I enjoyed this book ! The thrills began from the get go.

The book starts with a murder scene, a very gruesome one at that. All first class carriage passengers of a train Milan to Rome are found dead, all in various stages of death. Everyone is on high alert as this seems to be a terror attack. It is later found that the death was due to some chemical released through the AC vent. Detective Colomba is first at scene and so by proceedure becomes in-charge of the investigation. Soon however they receive a video in which two men claim the responsibility of this attack on behalf of IS. Suddenly the investigation rockets out of hand and is under constant scrutiny. During a routine follow up in a mosque, Colomba is dragged into face off between local Police and the mosque Imam. A scuffle which results in the death of the Imam while he tried to save Colomba, but not before he says something critical that will swerve the direction of the investigation. Colomba realizes that if she is to get to the bottom of this mess, she will need Dante's expertise in this investigation.

Within the first day of being involved, Dante dismisses the IS angle in the video and claims it to be fake. He claims so with the way the men in the video have awkward prayer action, which should have been smoother if they were regularly practicing Muslims. To add on to that he even identifies one of the men in the video, sending the entire investigation into a big cat and mouse race. Dante is a very resourceful man with very useful contacts, and soon he sees a pattern in many unsolved random accidents. Apparently, these accidents and attacks were designed to eliminate specific targets and the rest were just collateral damage. This was done to hide the true motive behind the murders. Who are these targets ? Why is someone going after them ? Everything is so meticulously planned by the killer, will Dante and Colomba be able to catch the person in the end ? Who is the Angel ?


I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dante's mind at work. The introduction of Dante with his conspiracy theory class in this book is phenomenal. This character is smart, reads between lines, reads people and their traits and he is so much more. The glimpses of his tortured past just add more mystique to his way of working. After a previous debacle, Colomba is also out to prove herself. Together they make one hellava team!

The story moves effortlessly between the past and present, answering the 'Why' questions along the way. The plot itself was very entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat, making me guess what the next twist would be. The pace of the story is fast, and you need to be paying attention to all the complex and multi layered twists and turns to keep up with the plot. But what makes this story even more thrilling is the assassin's end game. A lot of surprises in the end as to who the real bad guys are, leaving you questioning whether the assassin's actions can be measured against a moral compass. The classic case of necessary evil vs actual evil. It traps your attention until you reach the end, and even then remains on your mind. I am definitely looking forward to the next in this series. Kudos to Mr.Dazieri for this masterstroke.

PS : I haven't read 'Kill the Father' as yet, but that oversight will be corrected soon.
Oh BTW, loved the cover !!

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC of this book.
This is the second book in the series, with the first book being Kill the Father. I haven't read the first book, but I don't think I missed much in terms of reference to the first book.
Entertaining read, recommended.

Gripping and exciting second novel i have read by this author. Love the characters and cant wait for number 3!!! 🤞. Cant recommend enough

Excellent. This had everything, a gripping plot, great characters and plenty of well described and paced settings. Strongly recommended for readers of European thrillers.

Kill The Angel, the second novel to feature Dante Torre and Deputy Police Commissioner Colomba Caselli of the Rome police, is just as thrilling as the first instalment. The plot is cleverly thought out and the pace is quick, quick enough to keep you reading to find out what happens in the end. While it's not essential to have read the previous book it does help you to understand the recurring characters and their thoughts and behaviours. There is action and surprises aplenty and the intelligent and refreshingly original story makes up for some of the parts that drag a little, hence the four stars rather than five.

The main characters have the customary flaws that come with most police/detectives/private investigators in the crime genre, but I appreciated that Dante's behaviour was non-conformist, he does his own thing regardless of other peoples opinion - he is also quirky and becoming one of my favourite crime characters. Each of Dazieri's characters are well developed and interesting, especially Dante and the female serial killer. The author provides much misdirection and just as you think you've got it all figured out he pulls the rug from under you and you realise you were miles off! Complex, enthralling and one of my favourite crime reads of the year. I look forward to the upcoming books! Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

A train arrives at Rome's main station with a first class carriage full of dead bodies. Deputy Police Commissioner Colomba Caselli is first on the scene as the police receive a claim that ISIS was responsible. Before too long however, Caselli and her civilian investigator sidekick Dante Torre become convinced that this is not an act of terrorism.
As the two men claiming to be the ISIS terrorists wind up dead, Dante convinces Colomba that somewhere the real perpetrator is pulling the strings.

The reader is reminded of Caselli and Dante’s recent history and their battle against "The Father", who kept Dante confined for his childhood years in a concrete silo, before he was freed thanks to Caselli's murder investigation. Both suffered as a result of that experience and Caselli's superiors regard her as damaged goods. She doesn't help her cause with her sometimes over-the-top moody behaviour. Dante believes there are still unresolved issues from the police investigation into "The Father" and is suspicious of Caselli's superiors.

By means of his computer wizardry and sometimes illegal Internet tricks, Dante discovers that a woman named Giltine may be the one behind the poisoning of the train passengers as well as a string of previous murders throughout Europe. But when the duo try to convince the authorities of this fact they are ignored. Worse follows as Caselli is suspended from duty and she and Dante are forced to continue their investigation on their own, although they do receive help from Caselli's detective team, known as "The Three Amigos", and other police sources.
Believing that Giltine is planning more murders, they switch their inquiries between the past and present, travelling from Italy to Germany, trying to discover who Giltine really is and exactly why she is committing these seemingly unconnected crimes.

Although this is a fast-paced story, I felt that it dragged in some places, particularly when detailing Dante's multitude of quirks (details of the various coffees he likes and their preparation get boring) but the action more than makes up for that. While not as good as "Kill The Father" (the 1st in the Colomba Caselli series and one of the best crime novels I've ever read) this is a thrilling read and I hope there's a 3rd Caselli book due soon. If you enjoy crime thrillers with a difference, this book is for you.

Having finished reading Kill the Father prior to this book I literally couldn’t wait to start reading as soon as I had finished the last page and now I wish the next book in the series was awaiting straight from finishing this one! Although I wasn’t as blown away (hahaha) as I was with the first book but it still cost me a whole nights sleep, my poor eyes felt like they had grit in them come 5am but I still couldn’t stop reading.

I am starting to realise Mr Dazieri has a passion for blowing things up! Not that thats a bad thing but I wouldn’t want to be one of his characters 🙂

The lead characters continue to be brilliant, each with their own flaws and challenges that expands further from book one and if anything more enjoyable in some pretty shite situations but the ending!! WTF??? Really!!!

The subject matter of this book is a pretty unique as far as my reading experiences go, starting with a deadly poison attack on a train entering Rome, seen as an act of terrorism by Muslim extremists ISIS. And as we follow Colomba with the investigation and her decision to turn to Dante yet again for his unique help it becomes clear that the so called terror attack wasn’t committed by terrorists, but by a serial killer who has avoided detection for years. And she (got to love female serial killers!) is a brilliantly clever antagonist to oppose Dante’s genius and quirks.

If you enjoy clever addictive crime thrillers then don’t miss this book – seriously!! You don’t necessarily have to read Kill the Father first as there is enough back story for it to work as a worthy standalone novel however I do really think reading them in order makes them so much better and the characters much more understandable.

This is 100% worthy of being in the category of Top Thrillers of 2018

This was an excellent adventure and a brilliant sequel to Kill The Father.
I love the characters. After Kill The Father I knew I just needed more of the incredible duo that is Colomba Caselli and Dante Torre, once again the duo did not disappoint and I just want to read so much more about their adventures. Another character I thoroughly enjoyed was our villain, who was absolutely brutal and terrifying, which I just loved. All of Dazieri's characters are so well done.
Story-wise Kill The Angel was unlike anything I have ever read, and anything I will ever read. The plot was so engaging and thrilling, the stakes were high and throughout the whole book the author kept me guessing - every time I thought I had figured something out I would later find out that I was never even close.
This whole series so far has just been so ingenious and original and I cannot get enough.
And after the ending I need the next book right now, and I am very excited for whenever that will be.
I highly recommend this series and I cannot praise it enough.

Do you ever get butterflies in your stomach when you hold a book you have waited months for? I do. I was so excited by this because loved Kill The Father, the first book. Although you can read this book as a stand-alone, you will get more from it if you read Kill the Father first. I couldn’t wait to get stuck into the new adventures of Colomba Caselli and Dante Torre.

Dazieri has created the most compelling detective duo since Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. These two fractured, lonely personalities work well together, one inside the law, one outside. That is, until Caselli, who has only recently re-joined her team, steps on the wrong toes and is put on suspension.

A deadly poison attack on a first class train carriage. ISIS claims responsibility, but Dante Torre has his doubts. Following the obvious leads, the Police arms up and en masse heads for a local mosque where a combination of police hard headedness and local unrest turns the whole affair into an unholy mess.

Torre’s special skill, honed after years kept locked in the silo, is his ability to read people and situations. And he knows that the signs being left for them are planted; deliberate misdirections to keep them away from the real purpose of these killings.

Who then is responsible and why? This complex, twisted, multi-layered novel takes the reader on quite a journey, both in time and geography, as we unpeel the layers to understand that the genesis of these murders, and the murders that will follow, lies deep in the past during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

Though by no means a short book, it is terrifically easy to read because Daziere’s writing is so sharp and terse. I can visualise these scenes so well; his style is cinematographic and that really builds the tension and suspense.

Daziere ekes out his character development in teaspoons. We learn a little more about Caselli and again not much more about Torre, but the small details all help us to understand what may be going on in their heads.

As the duo follow the small trail of breadcrumbs through Germany and back to Italy, they face both danger and duplicity. It is hard to know who, if anyone, can be trusted, which suits Dante, who trusts no-one except Caselli.

Dazieri excels in his creation of evil characters and in this novel, he has outdone himself. The devil here is in understanding who is more evil than the rest, for this is a dark psychological thriller with more than one serial killer.

My heart was pounding, my tummy butterflies were fluttering and my eyes could not move from the pages until I had finished this gripping and fantastic book. It is intense and propulsive.

And once I had finished – well, what an ending. This is a writer who knows how to keep a reader on the hook, and I am but mere bait – eager, willing, nay even excited bait – for the next novel in the sequence.

As for those butterflies in my tummy – Daziere has the last word. “We call it a butterfly. For a caterpillar, it is the end of the world”.

Kill The Angel goes straight onto my must read list.

A shout out too, to Anthony Shugaar, whose translation was so idiomatically perfect that I completely forgot I was reading a book in translation, which is all you can ask for but nowhere near as easy as it sounds.

Once again Sandrone Dazieri has created a complex, enthralling page turner of a book. The second in the Caselli and Torre Italian crime series sees the return of complex recluse Dante Torre and determined detective Columba Caselli. When a rail car full of passengers is gassed, Caselli finds herself caught up in what is assumed to be a counter terror investigation, however the always observant Dante is not convinced. What appears to be the work of ISIS instead turns out to be a merciless assassin , bent on revenge,who bases her persona on a Russian legend about a mysterious woman named Giltine, who escorts her victim's to the underworld.
In this book that spans from the 1980s to the current day, and takes the reader from the former Soviet Union to Italy and Germany, the reader is taken on a cat and mouse game of epic proportions. For those wanting to know more about Dante's background ,we are given a few more breadcrumbs, as well as the definite suggestion that more will be revealed in the next book.
Although this book could be read as a stand alone, I would recommend reading Kill the Father first, not only does it give more insight into the characters and their motivations, but it's also an excellent thriller.
Overall this was a gripping read, with several shocking moments and I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read it. All opinions are entirely my own.

Kill The Father was one of my favourite reads of 2017, it was a original and startlingly good thriller. So I was unbelievably excited to hear a while back that it was to be a series and I was even more excited to be approved to read it early through Netgalley! It felt really great to return to the world of the two main characters, Dante Torre and Colomba Caselli. I pretty much instantly became engrossed in their latest mystery. Both of these characters have a fairly complex backstory so I would definitely recommend reading Kill the Father before diving into this book.
One of Kill the Angel’s strongest points is how talented the author is at creating a gritty yet atmospheric setting. The book darts around Europe but it keeps it’s roots in it’s Italian setting. The author also manages to develop the central characters even further, he uncovers new depths in them and still manages to surprise his readers. The relationship between Dante and Colomba is also explored in more detail which was fantastic to read.
The plot is pretty complicated and intricate but also very fast paced. It almost felt like there was a clock running down to the novel’s climax, the story felt so urgent. I actually felt my heart racing at times because I was so immersed in every new twist and turn. Although the story gets very dark and brutal at times with sometimes unrelenting violence, there are also many humorous moments usually with a healthy dose of sarcasm and wit. I found the plot twists unpredictable and shocking which is quite rare when you read a lot of thrillers like I do. In addition, the ending made me literally scream out loud. I won’t give anything away but lets just say I am praying that Dazieri writes the next book in this fabulous series very quickly!
Overall I would absolutely recommend this superb thriller which completely lives up to the high bar set by it’s predecessor. Also, if you haven’t read Kill the Father and you like dark, intelligent and tightly knotted thrillers then I would say definitely give it a read and then read this next great installment.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK Fiction for an advance copy of Kill The Angel, the second thriller to feature Dante Torre and Deputy Police Commissioner Colomba Caselli of the Rome police.

When some passengers on the Milan to Rome train are poisoned and IS claim responsibility Rome goes into lockdown. Colomba is the officer to find the bodies and is naturally involved in the subsequent searches of mosques and known Muslim gathering places but when one search she is involved in goes wrong she reaches out to Dante for help. He gets her involved in a hunt for a killer other than IS but she struggles with his conspiracy theories and convoluted thinking.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kill The Angel which is an intelligent, pulse pounding thriller. It ends in a cliffhanger which, while making me impatient for the next instalment, makes me wonder if I should have read Kill The Father first to have a better understanding of the overall story arc. Throughout this novel past events are explained as necessary and I didn't feel I'd missed too much but by the end I did wonder as I said.

Conspiracy by the rich and the amoral is at the heart of Mr Dazieri's writing but you don't have to believe it to thoroughly enjoy a great read. The plotting is clever with twist upon twist, the pace relentless and the characters interesting. It also has a readable style which keeps you turning the pages.

After being kept captive and tortured for 35 years from the age of 8 Dante Torre is a big bit strange. Unsurprisingly he has mental health issues (too long to list) but he also has a keen intellect and a large self taught knowledge of urban legend. He is very well drawn and it is a refreshing change to see such an ill character as a protagonist. I must read Kill The Father to see if it sheds more light on his history. I find him fascinating. Colomba Caselli on the other hand is a cop by her desire to do good but, after The Disaster when she almost died, she has changed and her colleagues view her disfavourably. She is the voice of reason when Dante's "fantasies" take off, demanding proof rather than supposition and inference but is not so sceptical that she won't help him find that proof. I like the dynamic between them so that and the excitement of their adventure kept me reading longer than I should have.

Kill The Angel is an interesting, exciting read which I have no hesitation in recommending.