Architects of Violence; Sculptors of Peace

An international thriller set primarily in Florence, Italy, Architects dramatizes the lives and relationships of three sisters as they are pursued by someone implementing a family vendetta. When the sisters---engrossed in artistic careers in different parts of the States---learn that their celebrated architect-father is critically ill, they travel to Florence and his hospital there despite memories of a brutal childhood. But unknown to them, they are followed by an ingenious mafia soldier---a soldier (and former Olympic-level gymnast) not at all what he appears to be. In Florence, as the sisters wander among the art treasures of the famed Renaissance city, they struggle with childhood memories, with forgiveness of their father, and with their sometimes violent relationships with men. When a sister is kidnapped, by the soldier whose artful disguise fools even the global don who devised the vendetta, all the anti-mafia units in Italy---led by a heroic prosecutor and an activist monk---join forces to find her. As the novel climaxes, its theme---that violence, when it's not controlled, grows explosively---is compellingly dramatized. Architects was awarded Honorable Mention in POL's novel competition in 2000.