Unfortunately, whilst I did eventually finish this and I have a number of Alex Connor's other books, I was not a fan of this particular book.

The story / plot takes much too long to get going, and the characters that walk across our pages too numerous that one wonders where they fit in - if at all. I found no empathy at all with any of the characters and the action taking place ignited no spark within me and I was left feeling unfulfilled. Upon reaching the end, finally, only to discover that this was not a stand alone book but one in a series.

I will not be pursuing any more in the series.

Atmospheric thriller set in 16th century Venice. Told in first person narrative in diary form, this reads like a Venetian Jack the Ripper novel, which being gruesome and descriptive, mat be unsuitable for young adults and those of a nervous disposition. Murders and mutilations abound!
There are some interesting characters, Ira Tabat, a young Jewish doctor, Marina Castilano, who specialises in flamboyant costumes of an erotic nature for homosexuals, and the mysterious Signor De Witt, an abortionist, and rumoured dealer of black magic cures.
The narrator is Mario Gianetti, who is rich, spoilt, disloyal to his work colleagues and treacherous to female acquaintances. He did have a bad start in life, but that doesn’t excuse his behaviour. My other gripe, is to read all the way through this book, and still not find out any details about the titular Wolves of Venice, hopefully this will be explained further in other books of this series.
I found the device of flashbacks to explain several events to be too long winded, and annoying, it interrupted the flow of the narrative. It is an intriguing book, well researched and gave many interesting facts. I hope to read the next one in order to make up my mind in full.
I will give a three star rating on Goodreads and will leave a review on Amazon later.

I hope this review is correct, I evidently sent an erroneous review first time, I hope this one marries up to the correct book.

This was first book by this author, so I had no idea what to expect, but the blurb sounded interesting so I decided to go with it.

This is very intricate story filled with a lot of characters and a lot of secrets. Some secrets get revealed and other remain a mystery for now.

I loved seeing venice through the eyes of so many different characters. Each had a specific relationship with Venice. Some characters I like dna dI despised other.

The story kept my attention from start to finish.

I recommend this book.

Even when the book has a very strong sense of place with Venice being almost a character of the story, the book did not captivate me. The relationships between the characters needed more simmering, sometimes the reader is forced to accept a character's feeling or behavior at face value without the proper contextual development to understand a character's decision. Similarly, the plot is plagued with things that happen out of the blue, not as interesting plot twist, but as sudden occurrences culminating in an ending that attempts to tie all loose ends, unsuccessfully, with one paragraph.

A gripping and unique thriller set in the murky spy world in the shadows and sludge of Venice. VERY atmospheric and full of nasty, evil characters. A few too many if I''m honest as it was hard to keep track of them at times. Having said that, that fitted in very well with the plot and themes of the book. You're not meant to see what is going on at times; things are murky and events take place in the fog and shadows.

The story meandered around like the canals taking you from one point to another and then back again. The wolves were waiting in the wings so all of this built tension and a sense of getting lost in the city's maze like streets and canals.

There was a lot of detail in the book which I did like but I feel it slowed down the action. The ending was a bit murky like those canals but I would definately read more.

In Venice during the 16th century the finding of the corpse of a young woman, brutally killed, get something in motion.
Someone will try to discover who killed her, while someone will plays his games of power.
With Venice always more corrupted, a dark society will start raising: The Wolves of Venice.

The Wolves of Venice was a book that really entertained me, with all his different and interesting character whose lives entangle one another in this really dark version of Venice.

The mysteries in the book keep getting more and more intriguing further you go on reading with them taking a more central place into the story.

The themes and various scenes are not suitable to a younger audience but I’m sure that a more adult reader will appreciate the crudeness of some of them, giving a more sense of reality to the book.

The are a lot of interesting historical information and so it doesn’t only entertain but also have an educational purpose… but there are some of the things that are incorrect for the historical period in which the story is taking place; like, for example, the presence of an anachronistic object like an Ouija board (that was invented in 1890)… the author could have simply replace it with a fuji (another instrument for spirit writing that is also quoted in the book) or totally remove it because the board have basically zero importance for the plot.

A thing that I hate in books is the use phrases or word in the idiom of the setting (Italian in this case) when in all the book it is automatically written in English and also already exist a perfect English word to express that concept. This kind of things to me seems unnecessary and almost a way to show off. And besides, some of the phrases in Italian are incorrect for the context in which are used.

The ending is disappointing: none of the mysteries of this book will be solved. The last part is mostly dedicated to the drama between the various characters, leaving the solving of the mysteries to the following book.

It is a really good book, but I will wait the release of the following one before reading it, because you will be left craving for answer that this book doesn’t give.