He was the best cop in Milan. Ten years later, Marco Tanzi is one of the homeless. His hair and beard are long and straggly, his clothes filthy; there's nothing left of the man he once was. In his personal descent to hell, he's left his wife and child, betrayed his former colleague and best friend Luca Betta and disgraced his badge. Yet one night, his life, which it seems couldn't sink any lower, is suddenly jump-started again, by the mysterious disappearance of his daughter Giulia, whom Tanzi hasn’t seen for years.
Romano De Marco (1965, Francavilla al Mare, Chieti) alternates novel writing with working as head of security at a bank. He made his debut as a novelist in 2009, with Ferro & Fuoco (Mondadori). In 2011 his second novel appeared: Milano a mano armata (Foschi, Lomellina in giallo Prize, 2012). This would be followed by A casa del diavolo (Fanucci), shortlisted for the Nebbia Giallo Prize in 2013). De Marco writes for several literary magazines and blogs and his stories feature in numerous anthologies.