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The Salamander

Morris West

1991288 pagesabout 4–7 hours
1991
first published
  • 1973Heinemann · 304 pages · ENGISBN 9780434859122
  • 1973Morrow · 355 pages · ENGISBN 9780688001940
  • 1973Editorial Pomaire, S.A. · 420 pagesISBN 9788428603966
  • 1975New English Library · 288 pages · ENGISBN 9780450020612
  • 1981Hodder · ENGISBN 9780340265871
  • 1992Guild Press · 355 pages · ENGISBN 9781562080105
  • 1995Mandarin · 304 pages · ENGISBN 9780749320683
  • 1978A.W. Bruna & Zoon, Utrecht/Antwerpen · 330 pagesISBN 9789022918074

A book that came to me from MC, on the back of the "shoes of the fisherman", this story is again set in Italy at a time of crisis. The death of a general sets into play a series of events that point to a coup led by the intelligence agencies. Our hero Dante, like his namesake, has to go through the stage of hell, purgatory and heaven several times in order to try to achieve his goal of deflecting this coup. The plot twists and turns like the switchback roads of the Alps, information given by characters in the book is often unreliable, and like Daniel in conversation with the Archangel Michael, we only see in part that which is occurring. This sense of unease, and 'who do I trust', means that you can't assume you know what is going to happen. (from Goodreads)

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