02418cam a2200313 i 4500 2357442768 TxAuBib 20240119120000.0 230622s2024||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 9781668020883 hardcover $28.99 1668020882 hardcover $28.99 (OCoLC)1384414493 YDX eng rda YDX BDX TRC Y$5 VRP OCLCO LJW FM0 SPP OCLCO RNL TXSCH TxAuBib rda Miller, Derek B., 1970-, author. The curse of Pietro Houdini [LEASEDBOOK] : a novel / Derek B. Miller. First Avid Reader Press hardcover edition. New York : Avid Reader Press, 2024. xiii, 360 pages ; 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier "August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving the American bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey's shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed 'Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,' rescues Massimo and brings him up the mountain to serve as his assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls. But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo execute a plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a nurse concealing a nefarious past, a caf ǒwner turned murderer, a wounded but chipper German soldier, and a pair of lovers along with their injured mule, Ferrari. Together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the 'safe keeping' of the Germans"-- Provided by publisher. 20240119. Orphans Italy Fiction. World War, 1939-1945 Fiction. Smugglers Fiction. Art Fiction. Italy Fiction.