The Deliverance of Evil

The Deliverance of Evil
Roberto Costantini
Translated by N. S. Thompson
Quercus
New York, New York
Hardvocer
ISBN: 978-1-62365-002-5
2014
$ 26.95
576 pages

"Evil is part of the divine plan."

World Cup victories are known as celebatory events.   When Italy won the event in 1982, Elisa Sordi was killed.   Although there were many suspects, the true killer was never found.   Elisa's death was never solved due to the influence, wealth, and power of those in her life.  The guilt of never finding her murderer forever stayed with the main investigator, Michele Balistreri. 
The next time Italy wins the World Cup in 2006, Elisa's mother commits suicide. Why? 
Investigator Michele Balistreri has carried the guilt of never bringing Elisa's killer to justice.  After so many years, can he now find out who killed her and why?
Michele has secrets of his own.  His privileged past has the typical young man rebellion.  However, his past has large amounts of time when he seemed to have completely disappeared.  What was he doing during this time?   Finally, he finished his schooling with a degree in philosophy.  For some reason he becomes employed with the police and manages to be assigned to one of Rome's quietest neighborhoods upholding the ideal of honor, loyalty, and courage while attempting to overcome his own faults and prejudices.
Unfortunately for this particular police investigation, people do not always tell the complete truth and frequently those of wealth and power hinder solving a crime.  Ranging from the Vatican to Romania to Dubai the issues of everyday life in Rome all are part of this investigation which seems to cause more deaths than answers.
The Deliverance of Evil is the story of this investigation dragging on throughout years with constant interferences, avoidances, and hidden secrets.  Unfortunately mixing Michele's personal life with the lengthy investigation tended to make the story realistically to drag.  However, the pace increases as the secrets are slowly revealed with many regrets from everyone involved.
With any novel which is translated, few people, especially the readers can truly understand how much credit should be given to the author and how much to the translator.   Just choosing the best synonym that best expresses the author's intended story has to be a challenge as well as the translating of the sentence structure.
The Deliverance of Evil excels in realism and the pacing matches this investigation.  Unfortunately, that alters the style of most mysteries of today.   Winning the Scerbanenco Prize for the best Italian crime thriller, this psychological thriller is the story of twenty-four years of Michele Balistreri's life.
For a challenging, realistic story, read The Deliverance of Evil.