The Abomination: A Novel

By Jonathan Holt

Set in two Venices, the modern physical world and its virtual counterpart, The Abomination by Jonathan Holt is a propulsive tale of murder, corruption, and international intrigue—the first book in an outstanding new trilogy in which Carabiniere Captain Kat Tapo must unravel a dark conspiracy linking the CIA and the Catholic Church.

By the stunning white dome of one of Venice’s grandest landmarks a body with two slugs in the back of the head has been pulled from the icy waters. The victim is a woman, dressed in the sacred robes of a Catholic priest—a desecration that becomes known as the Abomination.

Working her first murder case, Captain Kat Tapo embarks on a trail that proves as elusive and complicated as the city’s labyrinthine backstreets. What Kat discovers will test her loyalties and remind her of a simple truth: Unless old crimes are punished, corrupt forces will continue to repeat their mortal sins.

The Abomination is book one of Jonathan Holt’s Carnivia Trilogy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9780062267023

Jonathan Holt

When Jonathan Holt first traveled to Venice, he found it shrouded in thick fog and flooded with high water. This experience inspired him to write the Carnivia Trilogy, a series of thrillers based on Italy’s hidden past. The Abomination and The Absolution, the first two books, have now become international bestsellers published in sixteen countries. The second novel in the trilogy was longlisted for a Crime Writers’ Association Steel Dagger Award.

Reviews for The Abomination

[johnwbeha · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An odd mixture of police procedural - with the Venice Carabinieri joining forces with the US military - to solve a murder - and conspiracy theory. I found it quite muddled at times, but always intriguing. I wonder where this series is going next.

[maneekuhi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"The Abomination" is the first in a trilogy by Jonathan Holt and it teams a web site creator, a police captain and a US military 2nd lieutenant in Venice. All of the characters were done very well particularly the principals, two of whom are women. The Venice setting is excellent, and the city descriptions are far better than any other book I have read, including a highly rated crime fiction series. The story is well paced and zips along quickly. I really enjoyed the book through the first two thirds, then it just tumbled into the lagoon for me. I don't care much for thrillers, and it became very much an action thriller in that last third. It's at that point that a lot of plot points just seem to run out of gas. For example, there is a woman Catholic priest, and her presence appeared to me to be an unnecessary subplot. It resulted in a lot of pages explaining the Church's position on women's role in that religion. Boring, and as usual the Church, always an easy target, takes it shots. Also, our heroes are trying to prove a DNA link to victims of a Bosnian wartime rape and this will somehow prove CIA involvement in the conflict ? So the CIA takes its shots too. But there are still more suspensions of belief to come. How about two women overcoming six thugs in the rescue of some trafficking victims? Or a US controlled drone firing a missile into Venetian waters? Or the suggestion of bringing the US President and Secy of Defense to trial for US participation in the Bosnian conflict? There's more, but you get the picture. And speaking of that I have to add that the cover and title are a bit misleading. I'm not sure what that figure is on the cover but this is not a horror book despite a few references to Satanism. If you are really into escape fiction, "The Abomination" might be your thing, but I'd read a lot of reader reviews first to get a real clear picture of what's ahead.

[dizzyweasel · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to like The Abomination. I really did. Two female protagonists, women's issues (women in traditionally male jobs subject to terrible sexism; prostitution; wartime rape campaigns) at the forefront, an exciting occult crime, a fantastic European setting, some hi-tech wizardry...this novel seemed to have everything going for it. Unfortunately, the disparate storylines lagged, the subplots were dull, the Carnivia site was underused, and the `occult' aspect was a smokescreen: this is a military thriller.I was expecting/hoping for something dark, fantastical, a little esoteric, with some hacker magic thrown in. The 'occult' stuff, a woman found dead in Venice's canals wearing priest's robes, was not lingered over, there was no gothic ambiance, and the novel quickly turned this interesting murder into a commentary on the inefficacy of the Venetian criminal system and a romance between the two investigating officers, the sexy Kat Tapo and her married boss Aldo Piola.In another plotline, Holly Boland, second lieutenant in the US Military, has been stationed in Italy and is quickly embroiled in a quest for information about US/NATO involvement in the Bosnian War. Military stories are incredibly boring to me, and I was hoping, since this one was not mentioned in the press materials that accompanied the book, that it was a brief storyline. Unfortunately this plot became the entire book.The third storyline, that of Daniele Barbo and his website Carnivia was underused and mostly glossed over. Maybe Holt plans to draw out this storyline in future books, but I was disappointed in the lack of investment in this plotline in the inaugural book, since it has so much promise.My biggest issue, other than the misleading description, is the same issue I had with Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. An author may explore women's issue, employ main female characters, express dissatisfaction with the treatment of women in modern society, but still perpetuate sexism. Holt tries very hard to make this a 'women's issues' novel - the prostitution, the rapes-but at the same time he perpetuates heteronormativity and sexism in his descriptions of female characters and their actions. Kat Tapo is repeatedly called 'sexy', her description as a beautiful woman is noted again and again, she has issues with men disrespecting her, but she sleeps with her boss and occasionally uses her feminine wiles to try to achieve her goals (though at least with Daniele Barbo she realizes how ridiculous she's being). Holly Boland is noted as attractive, but manly (of course she must be manly, is the logic, she's in the military). Several characters assume she is gay (of course, she must be gay, is the logic, she's a woman in the military). If you're taking on a feminist project, don't spend quite so much time detailing how sexy your female characters are; also avoid suggesting that they're gay only so that you can stress how they're just hot in a different way, not gay!In short: misleading plot description in the marketing, feminism undermined by (unintended?) sexism, mildly entertaining military thriller. I finished it, but I will not seek out the rest of the trilogy. 2.5 stars.

[fugitive_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The term "giallo" refers to a genre of crime/mystery books in Italy. The word means "yellow" and refers to the color of the paperbacks published by Mondadori Publishing in Italy. Their hallmarks are tense plots, gruesome murders, and lots of sex, drugs, and violence. Jonathan Holt's THE ABOMINATION generally fits this genre with the thrust of the plot the unraveling of the mystery of a murder of a woman dressed in Catholic priestly vestments. Found in the waters of modern Venice, Italy, we follow several main characters with the novel following one, then another, as the plot lines intertwine and converge. We meet criminals, mafiosi, smugglers, spies, prostitutes, and crooked cops. Lurking in the background is the internet virtual city of Venice, "Carnivia," where all communications are anonymous and encrypted.This reminded me a bit of some of Robert Ludlum's works as it quickly becomes obvious that larger organizations and forces are involved in what first appears to be a simple murder. As a setup for two more books (this is advertised as a trilogy out of the gate), we only learn a little about which organizations are involved and in which specific shenanigans. What are the roles of the US Government, its spy agencies, the Catholic Church, the Mafia, and the Italian judicial system, particularly the Venetian portion?I probably would have liked this book more and given it 4 stars (I would like to give it 3.5 stars) had I known less about Venice and Italy. I have lived in Naples, Florence, Vicenza, and Siracusa (Sicicly) for a total of two years and probably bring too much knowledge about Italy, and Venice in particular, to react naturally to that aspect of the book. Mr. Holt's references are all accurate, but not particularly realistic for me. One annoying feature is the gratuitous use of Italian words when not obviously necessary. A few references will probably be totally opaque to the non-Italians, such as an unexplained Venetian slur for a homosexual.Science fiction fans should be warned that though a major element in the book is the virtual Venice, Carnivia, don't expect anything like Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. The technology is addressed in a shallow, albeit accurate, manner. Technology is more window dressing rather than an integral in-depth part of the book.All in all, this makes for a good, fast summer read. The characters are generally likeable, but their personalities are a bit two dimensional for me. But, if you like a good plot this is a nice roller coaster ride of a book. It reads like it would make a nice television mini-series with regular reveals moving the story along. Even though I give this "only" 3 out of 5 stars, I will likely read at least the next book in the series. It's a good setup and frankly, I'm curious where it will go.Note: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes.

[burritapal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It has a bit of an abrupt ending. And the "abomination" is a woman, don't you know.

This book takes place in and around Venice, sometime after the turn of the 21st century.
The protagonist is a female cop, who is subordinate to a male cop, who she has an affair with, though he's married.
They are assigned the case to investigate a body found washed up on the shore of an island that used to House a mental Asylum.
The body is that of a woman, dressed in the clothing of a Catholic priest. This is the abomination.
I was raised up catholic, attending Catholic School from 1st through 5th grade. Then my parents rebelled in their way, attending alternate Catholic churches in storefronts, Then going on to unitarianism, And finally ending up in the liberal Catholic Church, where they allow priests to be married. I really hate the Catholic Church. It's Full of lies and hypocrisies. And the Church is misogynistic:
" 'in a nutshell, the teaching of the Catholic Church, as set out by his holiness, is that the church simply has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women. It goes back to the original curse levied against Eve - in other words, it's a matter of Divine law rather than papal judgment. Hence any woman attempting to receive ordination, or to pass herself off as having been ordained, would be guilty of what his Holiness calls a "grave delict". That is, she would be a kind of heretic.' "
says a priest interviewed by the carbiniere.

Religion had to be dreamed up by a man.

The fisherman in the area where the body was found, bless themselves by touching their testicles (eww) when the Carabiniere, questioning them, show them the picture of the corpse, a woman dressed in a priest's vestments.

The body has some tattoos, symbols that are puzzling Kat, the young woman carabiniere, at first. Then, getting a clue from questioning sex workers, she looks them up on the internet, using the search terms croatian, Catholic and tattoo.
" 'They're called stećak symbols. According to this, Catholics in Bosnia originally tattooed their children with these markings in the hope that the Turks wouldn't take them as slaves - they couldn't be forcibly converted to Islam if they had Christian symbols on their skin. After the fall of the ottomans, the tattoos remained as symbols of the underground Church in croatia.' "

Kat and her Superior, Piolo, are stymied in their efforts to solve the murder by the prosecutor, who is, naturally, corrupt, and does everything he can to deny the fact that the area is controlled by the mafia:
" 'Let me propose an alternative scenario, Marcello said crisply. 'We have two female foreigners, one American and one Croatian, sharing a hotel room in our beautiful city. We have an obscene ceremony and a remote location, decorated with sacrilegious and occult symbols. We have the ultimate desecration of the mass by one of them, wearing a priest's robes. All thoroughly unsavory, but no doubt a thrill to those of a certain disposition - and when we ask what kind of disposition these two women had, we learned that they were the sort of people who pursue elaborate conspiracy theories. We learned that they frequent dubious websites and choose to lurk in dark corners of the internet, where such things grow unfettered. And then we discover, too, that they were seen looking for a prostitute - a very specific prostitute; no doubt one who shares their particular tastes.' "
the prosecutor is determined to link up lesbianism, satanism, and conspiracy theories, in his efforts to deny the work of the local Mafia in the murder.

One thing I really like about this book is the exposure of corruptness that we see in the local police in Venice, and in the character of the retired CIA agent Ian Gilroy, who supposedly is mentoring the new liaison officer on the US army base nearby, Holly, a young woman who shares the role of protagonist in this book, and who ends up being good friends with Kat.
This Spook is willing to sacrifice what he calls his "terrier," as she turns out to be a superb researcher.
Some of the best truths that try to be denied by government show up in literature.

This book has to do with human trafficking of young women from Croatia, and the mafia.
One of the characters is a man called Daniele, who is awaiting sentencing for refusing to allow the government access to his created internet world, a depiction of Venice, down to the last stone and canal.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kat tried to imagine what it must have been like for Martina Duvnjak - smuggled into a foreign country, only to be imprisoned in a mental hospital where no one believed, or wanted to believe, that she was what she said she was. Where those whom she had trusted most betrayed her most profoundly.“And yet you say she was called the abomination??” she said.Sister Anna nodded. “Indeed.”“Why would they call her that,” Kat asked, “if she wasn't one?”For the first time in the conversation, she had the satisfaction of seeing the other woman rendered spechless.This is an exciting thriller with a Venetian setting, in which a Caribinieri captain, a U.S army officer and the creator of the virtual reality city of Carnivia are thrown together to investigate a murder linked to conspiracy concerning the U.S. army, spies, mercenaries, the Mafia, the Catholic Church and a Croatian war criminal.

[karieh_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a mystery/thriller, I enjoyed “the abomination”…once I (sort) of got past what the title refers to. The idea that a woman priest, or even a woman dressed as a priest was referred to as an “abomination” – just really bothers me. That is a word that should be used to describe the worst acts imaginable. The most inhumane, terrifying, cruel, destructive things ever. It seems very wrong that a woman giving her life to God and to helping others gets put in the same category.“And if a bishop decides to ordain a woman, then as soon as that woman has received the Sacrament of Holy Orders she is a priest, in the eyes of God. A heretic one, perhaps; even an abomination.”And yet – once the book moves further into the questions surrounding the death of a woman dressed as a priest – I couldn’t help but be drawn in. The main female characters are interesting and pretty well drawn. I wouldn’t say there is anything fantastically original about them – but their strength and determination to find those responsible for that crime (and numerous other ones against other women) went a long way towards making up for the sexist and misogynistic themes. And when the book introduces a new angle – and adds another layer to the story - part of the bigger picture is revealed. The greater mystery of which this crime, this conspiracy is just a small part. (Which one would assume will be further explored in the next books of this trilogy.”The book ends on a strong note. One of the central characters, Kat Tapo of the Carabinieri) sums up her frustration with the system. With the treatment and experiences of women throughout time. “She said slowly, “It’s not you, Aldo. It’s the system – the way it assumes that it’s me, rather than you, who’s got to be shunted off sideways.”…..”and my own grandmother, who fought alongside male partisans in the war but was made to go back afterwards to baking cakes and having babies. It’s the women who aren’t allowed to be priests, because the Church looks at a two-thousand-year-old tradition of misogyny and calls it Holy Law. “The treatment of women, not the clothing they wear nor their quest for dignity and respect, is the abomination.

[atticusfinch1048 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fast Paced Murder Mystery ThrillerThe Abomination by Jonathan Holt is a brilliant introduction to a new thriller trilogy series based around the Venice with two brilliant lead women and an odd ball loner who all need to join forces to solve this murder mystery. There is nothing run of the mill about this thriller as it is fast paced that takes you through a mix of emotions. All well written and planed by Jonathan Holt which happens to be a pseudonym for an already best selling British author – even more mystery!We are introduced to Captain Katrina ‘Kat’ Tapo on the feast of the Epiphany, on the 6th January when she has been allocated her first murder as a Carabinieri under the direction of Colonel Aldo Piola. She finds that the murder victim not only is a female but dressed as a priest with all the correct vestments for one that has been ordained. Could she really be an ordained Catholic priest or as the Church would have it an abomination. During the course of the investigation more bodies start to pile and that brings her in to contact with the USA Army in Italy and specifically Second Lieutenant Holly Boland who seems to know more than she is letting on while stalling her. Later they would need each other to solve the murders and more importantly to stay alive in another country.They find that a lot of their answers were in and around Venice but not the Venice people see, but a virtual world an online version of version of Venice known as Carnivia. The owner of this world is on trial and about to be sentenced but only he can help Kat and Holly as the answers to the investigations are in that virtual world and it would be the virtual Venice that would eventually save them in the real Venice.The Abomination touches many of the issues of not only Venice but of the wider world. With people trafficking, from the Balkans, for prostitution, and the unmentionable war in the Balkans, and the war crimes that were committed there. While bringing in the CIA, and those shadow private armies of the USA, running drones all over Europe watching the people. The dark world of Carnivia and its reclusive owner is the only person that can help them solve the crimes in a race against the intelligence machine of the USA.This is a brilliant thriller with many twists and turns and wondering who Kat and Holly really can trust and this will be a very popular read and should be huge. This was one of the most enjoyable thriller reads I have had and cannot recommend this highly enough.

[adpaton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Captain Kat Tapo of the Carabinieri and Second Lieutenant Holly Boland of the US Military combine forces with the genius recluse Daniele Barbo to prowl both real and virtual Venice to trap a killer. The Abomination refers to the body of a murdered woman found outside a church in a flooded Venice – although it is not the killing but the fact she is dressed in the robes of a Catholic priest that is considered Abominable. The Church looms large as one of the villains, although the CIA, the US Military, Bosnian war criminals and the Mafia are fellow baddies in the first of a Venetian trilogy which features Carnivia, a perfectly private social website set in a virtual Venice in where anything can happen. The characters are a little two-dimensional and the action somewhat predictable but The Abomination is an interesting read which, stripped of the fantasy, raises some important issues, deserving of attention.