Ex-cop, loner, would-be bon vivant, Fabio Montale returns in this stunning conclusion to Jean-Claude Izzo's Marseilles trilogy. Italian Mafiosi are hunting journalist-activist Babette Bellini, and the body count is growing as they close in on their prey. In desperation, Bellini seeks help from her former lover, Montale. Before he has time to shake off his most recent hangover, Montale is receiving sinister phone calls from men with Italian accents who want him to find Bellini for them. Like a woman he can't leave, like strong liquor he can't refuse, Marseilles lures Montale back into its violent embrace. This is a Marseilles that will break your heart. A modern city and an ancient Mediterranean port, a melting pot of ethnicities and a cauldron boiling with human passions, a place of natural splendor and of sudden violence. In Izzo's Marseilles new and old varieties of mafia connive and local organized crime insinuates itself into the fabric of legitimate buisness and politics. Solea is Izzo's heartfelt cry against the criminal forces corrupting his beloved city. It is his farewell to Marseilles and to its ideal protagonist, Fabio Montale. It concludes an unforgettable trilogy that epitomizes the aspirations and ideals of the Mediterranean noir movement. Praise for Izzo's Marseilles Trilogy
