Midnight Angels »

Lorenzo Carcaterra is the author of A Safe Place, Apaches, Gangster, Street Boys, Paradise City, Chasers, and Sleepers. He has written scripts for movies and television and was a writer/producer for Law & Order. He has traveled to Italy on a yearly basis since he was fourteen and has written extensively about the country both for National Geographic Traveler and in his books. He speaks fluent Italian, and his favorite place to be is inside the church at Santa Croce, standing in front of the tomb of Michelangelo. He is currently at work on his next novel.
 

In the secret passageways of one of the world’s most majestic cities, an American woman must risk everything to keep the long-lost work of a Renaissance master from falling into the hands of thieves.
 
In Midnight Angels, acclaimed author Lorenzo Carcaterra returns with a gripping new novel of suspense, revealing a fascinating world where art and crime rendezvous in the shadows, where rumors swirl of undiscovered masterpieces lost to the ages and hidden throughout Europe, and where some will do anything to possess these priceless treasures.

Kate Westcott has come to the beautiful city of Florence to study the masterly Michelangelo, whose work has inspired centuries of admiration, adoration, even lust. Of course she already knows more about him than most art historians, thanks to her guardian and mentor, Professor Richard Dylan Edwards. A preeminent Michelangelo scholar—and a member of the mysterious Vittoria Society—Edwards has devoted his life to chasing down lost and stolen works of art and returning them to their rightful owners. 

Exploring the cobbled streets of the Renaissance city with fellow art student Marco Scudarti, Kate feels the pull of destiny. And when the two uncover a secret chamber in a corridor sealed since the time of the Medicis, they make a stunning discovery: Michelangelo’s Midnight Angels—three small, exquisite sculptures long rumored to exist but never before seen. It is the find of a lifetime—and the beginning of their nightmare.

Pursued by operatives of the most heinous criminals, under suspicion from the elite Rome Art Squad, and navigating the underground network of the Vittoria Society, Kate must use all her cunning to elude capture. From the halls of the Uffizi to the Piazza Santa Croce, across the Ponte Vecchio and under the shadow of the Duomo, Kate and Marco race to preserve and protect not only Michelangelo’s work but also their lives.

Midnight Angels is a thrilling, page-turning novel in which Lorenzo Carcaterra evokes an Italian setting so intimate and sensual that it seems to live and breathe along with his characters.

Publishers Weekly

This superior religious artifact quest thriller from Carcaterra (Sleepers) careens through the streets of Florence with quick stops at various museums and galleries for interesting sidebars on the life and work of Michelangelo ("the Divine One"). Two major groups are trying to find three Michelangelo statues, the Midnight Angels, long thought to be myth rather than reality: the secretive Vittoria Society, whose members locate stolen and lost art objects and return them to their rightful owners, and the Immortals, led by the Raven, a master thief who's as dangerous as he is ruthless. Early on, Kate Westcott, an American art student in Florence and the ward of the Vittoria Society's leader, tracks down the Midnight Angels, aided by her handsome Italian boyfriend, Marco. Many people die as Kate and friends fight to prevent the Immortals from stealing the Angels. The author's solid, well-executed premise will keep readers turning the pages. (July)