"The Abomination" is the first in a trilogy by Jonathan Holt and it teams a web site creator, a police captain and a US military 2nd lieutenant in Venice. All of the characters were done very well particularly the principals, two of whom are women. The Venice setting is excellent, and the city descriptions are far better than any other book I have read, including a highly rated crime fiction series. The story is well paced and zips along quickly. I really enjoyed the book through the first two thirds, then it just tumbled into the lagoon for me. I don't care much for thrillers, and it became very much an action thriller in that last third. It's at that point that a lot of plot points just seem to run out of gas. For example, there is a woman Catholic priest, and her presence appeared to me to be an unnecessary subplot. It resulted in a lot of pages explaining the Church's position on women's role in that religion. Boring, and as usual the Church, always an easy target, takes it shots. Also, our heroes are trying to prove a DNA link to victims of a Bosnian wartime rape and this will somehow prove CIA involvement in the conflict ? So the CIA takes its shots too. But there are still more suspensions of belief to come. How about two women overcoming six thugs in the rescue of some trafficking victims? Or a US controlled drone firing a missile into Venetian waters? Or the suggestion of bringing the US President and Secy of Defense to trial for US participation in the Bosnian conflict? There's more, but you get the picture. And speaking of that I have to add that the cover and title are a bit misleading. I'm not sure what that figure is on the cover but this is not a horror book despite a few references to Satanism. If you are really into escape fiction, "The Abomination" might be your thing, but I'd read a lot of reader reviews first to get a real clear picture of what's ahead.