Appointment with ISIL (Anthony Provati Thriller) by Joe Giordano

This Ludlum-esque international thriller stars an Italian-American man, east-coast Anthony Provati. His parts of the fast-paced story are told in first-person narrative, as Anthony manages to get himself into a bad situation that quickly escalates into a horrible situation. Third-person limited narration is used for the scenes without Anthony.

Lots of tough guy stuff here, with punchy dialogue, violence, threats of violence, off-scene sex, mobsters, dirty cops, hot chicks, a psychopath, and some truly evil human beings. International terrorism becomes the focus of the book as it progresses. The most interesting part of that, for me, was the discussion of social media's use for recruitment and propaganda.

Napoli, Italia

Just a warning, since the events in this book are very topical: For those touched directly by the evil of terror groups, those who feel raw from all the death and horror, this work of fiction may be something to skip. And the harrowing first chapter, which is chronologically out of sequence in the story, may be too disturbing for some readers. Those are things each reader must determine alone.

The Italian-American protagonist's backstory is told convincingly. The settings of the book range from east-coast USA to the Mediterranean, specifically Italy, Greece and North Africa. Readers familiar with tough-guy novels will recognize the cinematic action-and-dialogue-heavy writing, which is rendered expertly, and edited professionally. This is the first book in a planned series of thrillers featuring Anthony Provati.

Napoli, Italia

From the book's description:

This time, Anthony’s libido threatens his life. Anthony Provati flirts with Russian mob boss, Gorgon Malakhov’s mistress. The Russian deals in death. ISIL, the Islamic State in the Levant, wants the product. Russian Intelligence supplies the means, and an art theft funds the scheme. ISIL’s targets are chilling. The chase across the Mediterranean is on. Can Anthony thwart ISIL? Will he survive?

“The threats feel very real. The plotting and writing throughout are taut and the stakes are very high. Not only are individual lives in peril, but plans are laid for massive attacks and enormous security breaches. Sales of submarines, Strontium-90 (a component of diabolical “dirty bombs”), and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles are all part of the high-level negotiations. Also mixed into the nefarious loot are massive amounts of heroin and three small, but priceless, Vermeer paintings…. A roller-coaster ride to the finish, this book confirms Giordano as a writer to eagerly watch.” –Kirkus featured review

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

Please visit the author's blog site, where he has a special section about Italian-Americans.