The Ghosts of Rome
Book 2 in The Rome Escape Line Trilogy
by Joseph O'Connor
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Pub Date Feb 04 2025 | Archive Date Feb 04 2025
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Description
In the final months of World War II, a clandestine group known as The Choir smuggles thousands of escapees out of Nazi-occupied Rome via a secret route known as the Rome Escape Line. When an unidentified airman falls from the sky, The Choir is plunged into lethal danger and the survival of the Escape Line itself is threatened.
The Choir is riven with internal tensions and infighting. The organization is in danger of falling apart, which would leave thousands of escaped allied soldiers, POWs, Jews, and objectors stranded in a Rome that is ruled with vicious efficiency by the Nazis. Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, the architect of the Escape Line and acknowledged leader of The Choir, broods inside the Vatican, seemingly paralyzed by what he sees as the intolerable risks of keeping the Escape Line in operation.
One man has been given the task of definitively destroying the entire operation and the price of his failure is high—SS Commander Paul Hauptmann’s wife and children are under Gestapo supervision in Berlin. Hauptmann is ordered to stay on in the city he both loathes and loves and to dismantle the Escape Line, or watch his family perish. Into this deliriously thrilling melee steps the Contessa Giovanna Landini, a reckless, audacious, and magnetic member of the Italian Resistance who has the nerve to challenge Hauptmann’s authority.
A beautifully written and expertly crafted historical suspense novel that is bursting with action, atmosphere, and unforgettable characters, The Ghosts of Rome is the thrilling follow-up to Joseph O’Connor’s best-selling My Father’s House.
A Note From the Publisher
- Best-selling novelist Joseph O’Connor’s WWII-era literary thriller set in Rome and based on the true story of Irish priest, Hugh O’Flaherty and his heroics during the war while posted to the Holy See
- Big on atmosphere, this sequel to My Father’s House goes deeper into the mysteries, the dark streets, and the local character of Rome
- Features three wisecracking American GIs, escaped POWs, who are making their way to Rome to flee Italy via the Escape Line
- An Italian Schindler’s List featuring an Irish Monsignor and an Italian Contessa and a large cast of colorful side characters
- First book in the trilogy was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year and finalist for the Walter Scott Prize
- A WWII literary suspense with a cast of endearing and vivid characters set in an occupied and atmospheric Rome
TARGET CONSUMER
- Readers of historical fiction, WWII novels, espionage thrillers.
- Readers interested in narratives of resistance against Nazism and Fascism in Europe during WWII
- Readers of books with a vast cast of vividly realized characters
- Readers of Anthony Doerr, Paula McLain, Kate Atkinson, Julie Orringer, David Benioff’s City of Thieves, Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale
Advance Praise
Praise for My Father’s House
“A potent blend of excitement, suspense and intrigue... A gripping World War II-set drama featuring the unlikeliest of heroes, one whom the reader roots for every step of the way... hugely satisfying.”—Malcom Forbes, Washington Post
“My Father’s House is primarily—and triumphantly—an intimate drama that illuminates both the fragility and the wonder of unlikely human connections forged in adversity and, in some cases, enduring for a lifetime.”—Anna Mundow, Wall Street Journal
“Sometimes a novel’s setting looms so large it becomes a crucial element of the plot. That’s certainly true of the dangerous streets of World War II Rome, which Joseph O’Connor explores in his historical thriller My Father’s House.”—Alida Becker, The New York Times Book Review
★ “O’Connor is a masterful storyteller, weaving a violent, terrifying, suspenseful, yet ultimately uplifting story of one man’s courage and determination to fight back against Nazi brutality, whatever the risk. Superb!”—Booklist (Starred Review)
★ “Riveting... A storytelling tour de force. This is top-drawer WWII fiction.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
★ “If the story were told in typical thriller style, emphasizing action over language, it would still be good, but O’Connor’s phrasings are a special joy... A deeply emotional read.”—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
“A riveting tale about the power of community in the face of unfathomable evil... A seamless blend of fact and fiction by a master of the genre; a brisk, polyphonic narrative that brings the heroism of ordinary people thrillingly to life.”—Irish Times
“The diverse ventriloquism of O’Connor’s novel evokes a city in peril with wonderful vitality.”—Financial Times (UK)
“The novel’s evocative scene-setting, its propulsive narration and its powerful depiction of bravery and unity in extremis, all make for an engrossing read.”—The Telegraph (UK)
“A spectacular, thrilling novel… the novel offers much more than tensely plotted thrills. O’Flaherty’s deep and impressively detailed love of Rome is emphasised and handsomely conveyed by O’Connor… My Father’s House celebrates triumphant against-the-odds camaraderie. It would require a present-day Puccini to do operatic justice to its tremendous tale.”—The Sunday Times (UK)
“This remains a tale worth re-telling, adorned as it is by the brilliance of O’Connor’s impressionistic writing.”—The Times (UK), A Best New Thriller for January 2023
“There have been many books written and films made about Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, the Kerry-born Vatican priest who rescued thousands of Jews and Allied Prisoners of War during the Second World War. But his latest incarnation, as the hero of this fast-moving novel by Joseph O’Connor, is surely the most memorable… A novel that triumphantly recreates the extraordinary human being that was Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty and his colourful co-conspirators.”—Irish Examiner
“Superb.”—Irish Independent
Marketing Plan
Marketing & Publicity
- Galleys & e-galleys available
- National and regional Media
- Author available for virtual events and in-person events in Los Angeles and New York
- Bookseller outreach, Indie Next campaign
- Social media campaign
- Print/online coverage in historical Fiction outlets
- Outreach to Irish organizations and publications
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9798889660620 |
| PRICE | $28.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 400 |
