Author: Gabriel Valjan

Blog Book Tour | “Turning to Stone” by Gabriel Valjan

Posted Saturday, 24 October, 2015 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin.

Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a part of the blog tour for “Turning to Stone” hosted by Italy Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Winter Goose Publishing in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Originally intended to read the series:

Although my first preference is to read series in the sequence they are intended to be read, there are on occasion a few hiccups towards that goal. For me, with the Roma series it was a combination of time delays to ILL the series through my local library and the circumstances of Summer where the lightning storms wrecked a lot of chaos into my reading life. Despite knowing I might have to read a series out of sequence didn’t deter me from being on the blog tour, because this has happened a few times before (such as with the Maisie Dobbs series and Bess Crawford series) and I was able to pick up the threads of the stories despite my late entry.

A word about the publisher Winter Goose Publishing:

I enjoy doing a bit of groundwork to learn about new publishers I haven’t yet come across in my literary wanderings, and finding Winter Goose Publishing was a bit of a treat, as I appreciated reading their story! (see their About page) I appreciate finding publishers (Small Trade, Major Trade and Indies) focusing on authors and their stories rather than the bottom-line. It is one thing to turn a profit but to sacrifice a story simply based on market trends in literature I never felt was a good way to go. I applaud Indie publishers who are trusting their instincts on stories and celebrating the writers who are writing stories that do not become set against ‘trends’ but rather the stories they are motivate to create.

The fact they are choosing a printer for the books who has green printing practices and certification’s to perfect where the paper is being sourced is another bonus.

Blog Book Tour | “Turning to Stone” by Gabriel ValjanTurning to Stone

Alabaster Black aka Bianca Nerini returns as an investigation into a public official’s assassination pits Bianca and her friends against a backdrop of financial speculation, female assassins on motorcycles, and the Camorra—the most ruthless of Italian organized crime gangs—in Gabriel Valjan’s TURNING TO STONE, the fourth book of the highly praised Roma series.

En route to a secret meeting, Aldo Giurlani—the regional commissioner of Lombardy in northern Italy and a specialist on organized crime—is assassinated in the middle of a public square.

More mysterious is the package sent to Giurlani’s hand-picked team of five top investigators within the Guardia di Finanza (GdF), the Italian law enforcement agency that investigates illegal financial transactions, from money laundering to drug trafficking. Within the package are five copies of a book entitled Man of Smoke written by Aldo Palazzeschi.

Then there is Bianca’s tenuous online contact with a mysterious online contact known as Loki, who delivers a cryptic message to her, takes on a new twist with the appearance of a brilliant young obsessive-compulsive man who joins her team.

Complicating matters even further, old enemies and, more problematically, Alabaster’s former employer—Rendition, a murky covert U.S. government agency that does more than just investigate financial crimes—still have grudges to bear against her.

As new mysteries unfold, Bianca’s group quickly discovers that Naples might just be the most dangerous city in Italy.

Readers looking for a suspenseful thriller with mysterious twists and turns abounding will love Gabriel Valjan’s TURNING TO STONE.


Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781941058237

on 15th June 2015

Available Formats: Paperback and E-book

This is book four of the Roma Series:

Book 1 Synopsis | Book 2 Synopsis | Book 3 Synopsis

Roma Underground by Gabriel ValjanWasp's Nest by Gabriel ValjanThreading the Needle by Gabriel Valjan

Converse via: #RomaSeries

About Gabriel Valjan

Gabriel Valjan

Gabriel Valjan lives in New England, but has traveled extensively, receiving his undergraduate education in California and completing graduate school in England. Ronan Bennett short-listed him for the 2010 Fish Short Story Prize for his Boston noir, Back in the Day. His short stories and poetry have appeared in literary journals and online magazines.

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Posted Saturday, 24 October, 2015 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, Content Note, Crime Fiction, Fly in the Ointment, Indie Author, Italy, Italy Book Tours, Suspense, Vulgarity in Literature