This book captures the brutality of war faced by civilians dodging both the liberating and invading armies along the Gustav line in Italy, 1943. The imposing abbey of Montecassino is the spiritual home and repository of priceless artwork and documents that is threatened by bombings and looting. A young teen, Massimo is rescued by the enigmatic Pietro Houdini who is drawn to the youngster and forms a strong bond. Pietro has a plan to save artwork, that soon morphs into a plan to escape with Massimo. During their journey, they encounter others with deep pain and a desire to join them as they try to elude so many combatants.

While the plot is exciting and unexpected, there is much more to this novel. Miller contrasts the brutality of war with the beauty of art, friendship, and family. He also reveals a history of Italy at war in that region and its toll on woman and children. Insights into love, redemption, religion and remembrance linger long into the tale. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley for providing this title.

Given that I nearly DNF’d this book, I’m amazed that I wound up liking it as much as I did. For me, it only got interesting after about 23%; up until then, it was all talk, talk, talk, mainly by the title character. I’m glad I decided to give it a little more time instead of walking away at 20%.

If you make it past the beginning of this book, you’ll find yourself in an engrossing tale of survival in Italy in World War II. Most of the action takes place in and around the ancient Benedictine abbey of Montecassino and the nearby village of Cassino in 1943-1944. For those of us without detailed knowledge of every part of World War II, this was when the Allies were trying to make their way north through southern Italy to Rome. Which meant that any people and towns (and abbeys) that were in the way, were in the line of fire. The local Italians were caught between the occupying Germans (Italy had surrendered by then) and the Allies. Cassino, being between Rome and Naples, was one of those places caught in the crosshairs.

In addition to Pietro, who has taken the name Houdini to hide his true name, the main character is a young teen whose name we never learn. She/he presents as male or female, depending on the assessed level of danger - which was pretty smart in a wartime situation. Massimo/Eva has fled Rome on her own after her parents were killed in a bombing by Americans. So right from the start, we know that the Americans/Allies are not 100% the good guys. It is a nuanced look at a wartime situation, filled with evil Germans, nice Germans, evil Moroccans, and so forth. Pietro rescues her from a beating and she takes the name Massimo.

Art and saving art as Italy’s cultural heritage is at the heart of this war story. I loved it. I just wish we could have had a bit more information of what became of some of the wonderful characters like Lucia and Dino.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press (Simon & Schuster) for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book. I bounced between the ARC and the published audiobook, courtesy of my public library. The narrator, Gabra Zackman, did a great job with the various voices and accents. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars rounded down to 3. This book is billed as a "page turner" but I experienced it differently, but for a positive reason: I often had to ponder the many philosophical musings of the title character. The main character is young 14 y.o Massimo, an unforgettable character. My main regret is that most of the book takes place at the Abbey of Montecassino, and the "road trip" I thought would be happening was actually a very short part of the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

A touching tale of foud family in the midst of war. Miller pulls off a heist of priceless art and the readers' heartstrings with this one.

THE CURSE OF PIETRO HOUDINI is a stunning and emotional journey of an orphan found fleeing from Rome and the man who changes everything. Miller eloquently delivers a book that is more than any one thing. It is a tale about World War II, art, love, and how the meaning of family can evolve because of the people you meet.

The one thing I loved was the development of our narrator. As the reader progresses throughout the story, there is growth and realization. The decisions needed to be made are just as much about survival as they are moral/ethical. These instances and choices change all the characters. Who Massimo is at the beginning of the story is not even close to the person at the end. As events unfold, people die, and new ones enter the scene, the author is able to use this as a catalyst to propel the narrative forward.

This story has heart, action, and even an art heist. The people met within these pages are honest and flawed. Miller doesn’t shield the reader from the realities of war or what a toll it takes on those who live through it. But with that, there is beauty in the relationships formed and the bonds created. The author balances the harshness with moments of emotional connection. It is this balance that makes this book so good.

THE CURSE OF PIETRO HOUDINI is simply the best of what historical fiction can be. The author shines with his prose and ability to tap into real humanity.

An absorbing tale of a fictional art heist set against the real-life bombing of Italy's Montecassino Abbey during World War II.
Derek B. Miller's sixth novel, The Curse of Pietro Houdini, opens in the town of Cassino, Italy, in 1943. The titular character is on his way to Montecassino, an ancient abbey, where he's been hired to restore the church's crumbling frescoes. Passing through the village, he sees a child being beaten by several others and intervenes. He learns the 14-year-old, whom both agree will be called Massimo, has been orphaned by the Allied bombing of Rome and is heading to Naples, alone, to find relatives. Pietro, aware that Naples is at the war's current front line, convinces Massimo to join him as his assistant. The teen soon discovers, however, that Pietro is a con man, hoping to steal "loot" from the abbey before the Nazis can, and together they form a daring plan to "rescue" three works by the Renaissance master Titian. Along the way the pair are joined in their exploits by a colorful collection of individuals also fleeing the German army, including a limping donkey named Ferrari.

The Curse of Pietro Houdini is top-notch historical fiction, and the author's ability to weave fascinating details about WWII-era Italy into his plot is stellar. Miller includes not only little-known facts about the war – that Americans dropped more bombs on Montecassino than any other single building, for instance, and that mules were parachuted behind enemy lines in areas where trucks were impractical – but esoterica about art and art restoration as well as monastic life. I found myself frequently querying Google for more information about the many subjects the author touches on, surprised to find how much of the work is based on fact. The abundant historical tidbits are a major draw, and their inclusion is so seamless that it doesn't slow the action a bit.

But the plot is so much richer than a simple period piece or art heist yarn; everything about it is complex, from the relationships between the characters to the moral ambiguities one must navigate in wartime. It's part buddy adventure, part coming-of-age story, part action-adventure tale. It's at times laugh-out-loud funny and at others heartbreakingly tragic (and occasionally it's both at the same time – a neat trick for any author to pull off). Miller also doesn't shy away from the violence of war; even his most innocent characters are forced to lie, steal, and murder to achieve their ends.

Miller's writing, too, is gorgeous, vividly describing moments of beauty amid the horror. At one point, for example, a young woman plays her flute for Massimo and the other members of the group of escapees:

"Without an invitation or introduction, she raised the slender silver instrument to her lips…[S]he paused when her lower lip rested against the riser of the embouchure. For what, Massimo didn't know. When to begin is something that only a musician can know. In a room devoid of sound, a building devoid of art, a country devoid of hope, she waited for something to arrive – something that moved through her – and, once she began to play, it filled that void with everything that was missing."

Massimo narrates the tale, and through the teenager's voice the characters come to life so vividly that it's hard to remember they're fictional. In recalling Pietro later in life, Massimo states, "The man I knew was a thinker and a storyteller and a liar who had as little reverence for the facts as P.T. Barnum." Not only do we get to know the central duo intimately, but even the minor characters are imbued with personality. Friar Ryba, for example, appears on just one page but leaves an indelible impression as he single-handedly confronts a group of Nazis. (Massimo observes "Ryba stood over six foot four and had enormous shoulders, and if he had not turned his life to God he might have chosen to become a tank.") The members of Massimo and Pietro's entourage are uniquely and lovingly drawn, and even the German officers who make brief appearances throughout the book are multifaceted.

In short, The Curse of Pietro Houdini checks all the boxes for truly great historical fiction: authentic, likable characters, exquisite writing, engrossing plot, and absorbing historical detail. I strongly suspect it'll end up on my "best of" list for the year, and perhaps for the decade; it's one of those novels that stays with you long after you've finished it. This is a must-read for fans of World War II fiction, particularly those who've enjoyed novels like All the Light We Cannot See and City of Thieves. Highly recommended.

The devastations and cruelties incurred by the country of Italy; its native peoples; as well as its centuries of irreplaceable architecture and classical works of art are featured in Derek B. Miller’s extraordinarily researched and profoundly heart-wrenching historical fiction, “The Curse of Pietro Houdini.”

Set primarily at the 4th C. Benedictine Monastery of Montecassino, the safehouse of most of Italy’s invaluable classical art treasures during WWII (prior to their theft by order of Hitler) this remote locale was the home to only a handful of monks and a few others seeking refuge.

Among these refugees is an itinerant artist named Pietro Houdini and his young assistant, Massimo. However, everything and everyone isn’t always as they appear.

This is because the Nazi’s are well known for their extreme torture tactics, as well as retaliation towards relatives of partisan resistance fighters. Consequently, almost everyone uses an alias and/or a disguise.

This is a slow-paced story based in fact about the changing political landscape of Italy during WWII. It’s brutal in its honesty and harsh in its portrayal of all parties depicted. There are no winners in Italy’s war against itself during WWII.

From Mussolini to Hitler and the Nazis, even liberation via Allied forces brought atrocities from Moroccan marauders—the Italian peoples and their shared conscience; their landmarks and monuments, as well their profound legacy of arts suffered irreparable consequences as a result.

This is a story that I wasn’t taught in high school nor college. It is a black mark in the history of mankind. Nonetheless, it is a story that Americans, and all the world should know to prevent its repeat.

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Derek B. Miller, and Publisher Avid Reader Press, trademarks of Simon & Schuster: Celebrating 100 Years of Publishing in 2024.

(𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 #𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥) 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗢 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗜 by Derek B. Miller is a book we haven’t seen enough of...yet. An atypical WWII story, this takes place in Italy and involves the quest to save the extensive art collection in the Montecassino abbey. At the heart of this tale are two distinct characters. The first is Massimo, a 14-year old boy on the run after losing his parents to a bomb attack. Haunted by grief, Massimo is afraid of Nazis and Allies alike and falls prey to rough, older boys. To his rescue comes Pietro Houdini, an “art restorationist” on his way to the abbey to assist in protecting its valuable art collection. ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Massimo learns to assist Pietro, while also being audience to his many stories. Pietro is a talker, a big talker. Through these characters and a handful of others I learned much about WWII on the Italian front. That was truly eye-opening and in some cases painful and upsetting to read, but so well done. While Massimo was the heart of this book, Pietro was its soul. From him, came so much information. At times it almost felt overwhelming, but everything eventually came together.⁣⁣⁣
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If the book was divided into thirds, the last portion would easily be my favorite. As the war neared its end, with both sides desperate, things became intense. So much happened to ALL the characters who by then I’d come to love. The middle third’s level of detail made it a bit slow and could have been tighter, but by then I’d already been drawn in. Sinking into the slower pace was easy to do.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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If you like WWII fiction or historical fiction in general, I can almost guarantee that 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘰 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘪 will fill an empty niche in your reading life. It’s truly a unique story made even more special by the amount of it that was real. DO NOT miss the author’s notes at the end!

The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller is about a seldom written story from WW II.

"Massimo is fleeing Rome after bombs killed his parents. He is mugged and left on the side of the road where Pietro Houdini finds him. Houdini picks him up and takes Massimo with him to the Benedictine Abbey at Montecassino. He will make Massimo his assistant as he helps the monks restore their murals and frescoes. But Pietro also has another mission in mind - one involved in keeping some of the art from disappearing with the Nazis. But he will need Massimo's help."

This book has similar form to other Miller books. There is an adult helping a child learn about the world and their place in it - a coming-of-age story. This is a slower story than some of his other books. But it's okay to savor some of the wisdom of Pietro.
Massimo has a secret. There are a couple of early clues - you have to be quick to catch them. It was interesting to read a seldom told story from WW II. I had never heard parts of it.

Fans of slower paced WW II historical fiction will enjoy this one.

I LOVED this book! You will fall in love with the characters. This story will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but this cover is beautiful too!

I so loved every minute of reading this book! What a way to start the reading year. The story and the characters are so rich, and the fact that it is based on the true story surrounding the Monastery at Montecassino only adds to the depth and beauty of the story. This is my newsletter pick for this month.

Massimo and Pietro both have secrets-secrets big and small- and they band with a rag tag group to take Titians from an abbey south to Naples in the tail end of WWII just as everything is falling apart. This is complex and at times a bit head scratching (what exactly is Pietro doing to the paintings? why will one German gun make a difference?). and at others slow. Massimo's secret comes out so subtly you might miss it and it's not as developed as it could be. Pietro's secret might mean more to those who know Italian history than it did to me. His lectures on philosophy and art might find you skimming the page but there are some gems in there. This gets more interesting when Massimo, Pietro, and the others (especially that donkey) leave the Abbey- interesting and a bit horrifying. This hits a variety of themes using good characters. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is based in part on a true story (don't miss the afterword). Very different from Miller's earlier novels.

Derek B. Miller is on my auto-read list. Few authors are so skilled at telling a story that is gripping, funny, tragic, and meaningful. His choices of time and place for his books vary widely. This time around, we are in wartime Italy, where the 14-year-old self-styled Massimo is orphaned during the Allied bombings of Rome. Determined to get to family in Naples, along the way he is persuaded by Pietro Houdini to accompany him to Montecassino until it’s safer to head south.

At the abbey of Montecassino, Pietro’s reports to the monks that he is the maestro they’ve been expecting from Bologna to complete the cataloging and restore some of the vast art collection held there for safekeeping. But the abbey is occupied by Nazis, and Pietro feels sure that their claim they will transport the most valuable art to the Vatican is a smokescreen for a plan to loot the art for the Reich. Pietro tells Massimo he will disguise some unknown Titians by painting over them, and then he Massimo will head south and eventually get to Naples where Pietro also has family, an estranged but beloved wife.

When the time comes to leave Montecassino, Massimo insists on bringing along several refugees they’ve come to know—and a mule named Ferrari. The group witnesses and experiences extreme violence and danger, including some of the historically accurate mass rapes and murders committed by the Moroccan soldiers (“Goumiers”) who were part of the French Expeditionary Corps.

As I expected, there is much beauty in Miller’s writing, and complex emotions in the last part of the book. But the earlier parts of the book didn’t feel as immediate to me, and the frequent scenes of brutality felt oddly detached. It’s a book worth reading, but it just wasn’t as evocative to me as some of Miller’s others.

This book is something so different from what I would read normally but thought it would be a perfect edition for our library and I was so pleasantly surprised. It is such a different take on a WWII novel and I felt so connected to the characters. The main characters and the side characters are fantastic. It really left an impact on me and I will be thinking about this book for awhile. The writing is also easy to read and follow but beautiful - sucks you in and makes you feel something.

4.5 stars, rounded up. Miller is an author who consistently works for me - I've read almost all of his books, and they've all been 4- or 5-star reads. His newest novel is set in Italy during WWII, and despite the many, many books set during WWII, this novel felt fresh and inventive. It's an art heist/adventure/coming-of-age story with a wonderful child protagonist and a host of other interesting characters. The pacing was a little uneven at times, but overall this was an engaging look at the complexities of war that I highly recommend to fans of historical fiction, even if you think you're done with WWII stories. Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for a digital review copy.

4.5 stars. Massimo, a young teen and now an orphan, is saved from the streets by an odd man who calls himself Pietro Houdini. Pietro and Massimo head up the mountain to an ancient Benedictine abbey full of art and treasures, where they shelter from the war and its horrors. After a time, the war starts knocking at the abbey's door, so Pietro hatches a plan to confound the Germans with Massimo's help. Things get trickier as their band of misfits grows, but everyone is willing to sacrifice all they can to make it out of the nightmare they've found themselves in.

YOU GUYS. I was not expecting this book to be as impactful as it was. Oh my gosh. Please, PLEASE read this if you're a historical fiction fan! The ending definitely made me cry, and I loved every single character in this book. I don't have much else to say about it except that it was fantastic! Pacing, plot, characters, detail, complexity, emotion, yes. All of it. Read it. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

Big thank you to Derek B. Miller, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy!

“The wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead spoke more of wear than years and I felt his presence to be dramatic and theatrical and magnetic: as though my eyes couldn’t help but fall on him and when they did—like being drawn to a performer under a spotlight onstage—I was unable to break away because of the promise of some inexplicable drama yet to come.”

The Curse of Pietro Houdini is the fourth stand-alone novel by award-winning American-born author, Derek B. Miller. It’s August, 1943, and the fourteen-year-old, determined to reach family in Naples after being orphaned by an Allied bomb dropped in Rome, is rescued from a beating at the foot of Montecassino by a man calling himself Pietro Houdini, with the same destination.

This “opinionated but charming polar bear with a big personality and a beautiful accent” somehow exudes trustworthiness, and seems to have a plan for the teen, who takes the name Massimo. They climb up to the Benedictine monastery founded in 529AD where Pietro identifies himself as the Vatican-endorsed Master of Art Restoration and Conservation from the University of Bologna, and declares Massimo his assistant. Massimo has been told his role is to ““Keep cleaning the brushes, especially if you hear someone coming. And listen to me talk. You don’t have to pay attention. There will be no test. But you must feign interest at all times.”

But as Maestro Houdini pretends to work on the frescos, and Massimo pretends to clean brushes while listening, around them the monks are negotiating with the Germans. Montecassino is, just then, one of the greatest repositories of culture on earth, a storehouse for treasure and history and art. And while Fridolin von Senger is assuring the Archabbot Gregorio Diamare that the monastery will remain neutral, safe from attack, Lieutenant Colonel Julius Schlegel is insisting that the irreplaceable artworks and manuscripts be loaded onto German trucks and taken to the Vatican for safe-keeping, just in case.

Brother Tobias, torn between St. Benedict’s admonition for silence and a peasant’s unstoppable need to gossip, shares the gist of the discussions with Pietro and Massimo. Pietro is unconvinced about the supposed sincerity of the Nazis: he believes that Truman Konig is shopping for Hitler, and that not all the loot will make it to Rome.

“It was hot and his body was perfectly still. His mind, I felt, was building a plan as big as a cathedral” Pietro hatches a scheme to deprive the Germans of a few pieces that will also serve an important personal purpose: his intentions aren’t wholly altruistic either. Keeping this under the radar takes a bit of cleverness with the monks’ meticulous inventory, and Massimo observes “Pietro’s actions seemed like those of an alchemist and his ramblings part of an incantation.” Everything done with flair.

Once their pieces of art are ready for travel, a few incidents delay their departure and, ultimately their sudden flight in the face of Allied bombs resembles a radical nativity scene that includes a wounded German soldier on a mule, a nurse, a monk, a fourteen-year-old, an Italian soldier, a flautist, and a limping art restorer. Pietro tells them “We will need to lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin our way to Naples. We will hold our own lives as precious above all others. We will trust no one but each other, and we will try and remember that in this country, at this time, there is no way to tell friend from foe.” Do they make it to some sort of safety?

Miller effortlessly evokes his era and setting, and his descriptive prose is marvellous: “Pietro Houdini had the sorted mind of a scientist but the spirit of a shaman who had seen too much and expected to see much more of it, a thinker and a storyteller and a liar who had as little reverence for the facts as P.T. Barnum. And yet, his dedication to truth—to God’s own truth, a truth Pietro claimed to know and I now believe he did—was bottomless.”

He gives his cast insightful observations: “My father was dismissive because he thought that things that don’t make sense don’t matter, when in fact they are the things that matter most” and “Secrets and lies are illusions and one must commit to the illusion if it is to work!” are examples. Based on certain actual events, Miller’s glimpse into war and its myriad effects is a moving, sometimes blackly funny, and thought-provoking page-turner.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Avid Reader Press

The Curse of Pietro Houdini has been described as an art heist adventure. But that is too glib a description to describe this story. The plot is complex, the humor is dark and the logic is sometimes twisted. There’s a deep current of philosophical treatise. And it moved me more than most books I’ve read lately. In fact, while I’ve liked Derek Miller’s earlier books, I loved this one. It’s one of my favorite reads of 2023.
Massimo is only fourteen when the Allies bomb Rome, killing his parents. Taking off, he finds himself in Cassino, at the base of the Montecassino Abbey where he meets up with Pietro, a self described master artist. The Germans are there and it’s apparent this will be the new frontline of the war. The Germans are looking to “secure” the Abbey’s artwork. But Pietro has a plan to steal a few pieces before the Germans get their hands on them.
Everyone has secrets, especially Pietro.
The story moves at a strong clip. I was fully invested in the plot and what would come next. Both of the main characters quickly became favorites of mine. Actually, as more characters join in, I became entranced by them all. The writing here is lovely and I found myself highlighting numerous passages. This would make a wonderful book club selection, as it deals with war, sexual identity, community, art and God. Miller even does a neat trick with pronouns/narrative style. It touches on all aspects of human nature. I also applaud Miller for sneaking in all the necessary historical facts without slowing down the story line.
Warning - there is one very graphic scene towards the end. I literally had to put the book down and walk away for a few minutes.
I recommend this for fans of Robert Dugoni.
My thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book.