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The Hidden Assassinsby: Robert Wilson |
Alibiby Joseph KanonAlibi is Joseph Kanon's fourth novel, exploring the various factors in both murder and guilt. When is murder acceptable, if ever? Although I was intrigued by the first half of Alibi, the second half introduced the corruption and politics so strongly evident in the immediate post-war atmosphere of Italy (not that corruption doesn't still exist there as well as in most political fields!). Mr. Kanon introduces so many factors – undoubtedly attempting the usual twists and sub-plots of most murder mysteries – that the reader becomes entangled in the morass, left wondering whether or not the murder was necessary.Make no mistake – Joseph Kanon's writing is good, and Alibi is worth your time. Since this is the first of Mr. Kanon's work I've read, I have no idea if Alibi is a good example of his type of fiction. If so, I'm afraid it could stand some improvement. Obviously I can't agree with the other critics who have lavished praise on Joseph Kanon's books; he writes – especially in Alibi – about the untenable choices any war forces us to face. That in itself is commendable. What isn't commendable is the fact of being inundated with too much information and too many possible sources of guilt. Adam Miller is the protagonist in Alibi. The book is set in the Venice of 1946, and Adam comes to visit his widowed mother, straight from his duties as a war crimes investigator in Germany, where he helped in rounding up the major Nazis. Venice remains untouched by World War II, at least to the casual viewer. The city itself remains the same, untouched by bombs and fighting; but underneath are the currents of hate and twisted politics engendered by the Occupation. Adam meets and falls in love with Claudia, a young Jewish girl. His widowed mother has found herself a new lover, one Gianni Maglione, a doctor. Adam thinks Gianni is only after his mother's money, and is even more apprehensive about her involvement when Claudia accuses Gianni of being the cause of her father's betrayal to the Germans. Gianni is murdered, and we know who the murderer is. But here the plot takes an unexpected turn, bringing in Inspector Cavallini, although a number of other people are involved as well: Giulia Maglione, Gianni's sister, is one – then there's Rosa Soriano, friend of Joe Sullivan, who is rounding up Germans from Verona, with Joe himself a friend of Adam's. And there's Bertie, an old friend of Adam's mother from the Lido. Paolo, Gianni's older brother is dead, but his actions figure largely in the web of deceit, and the innocence of Carlo Moretti, the boy accused of murdering Gianni is all too apparent, except to Inspector Cavallini, of course. The deeper Adam and Claudia get into the machinations involving the murder, the farther apart they seem to drift, even though they become closer and tied together in other ways. Adam manages to uncover a number of startling facts along with his attempts to discover the weakest sides of Gianni Maglione, but when everything comes to a head, it's Inspector Cavallini who has to assure him everything will turn out OK. The characters in Alibi are very real – perhaps Joseph Kanon was himself involved in the unprincipled Jewish massacres during World War II – he certainly must have had relatives who were shipped to the infamous camps. Mr. Kanon's descriptions of that time period are decidedly valid and ring true. Perhaps if his book was a bit shorter and the plot a little less convoluted I wouldn't have found myself yawning three quarters of the way through. I was eager to reach the end of the story by then, but not because I wanted to know who done it (I already knew that) but because I simply wanted it all sorted out. Alibi is a nice try – but you'll come away without the cuddly stuffed animal as a prize. Alan Paul Curtis |
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