For Immediate Release
W&N ACQUIRES ‘EXCEPTIONAL’ NOIR THE WHITE DEVIL
Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired an ‘exceptional and compelling’ (Publishers Weekly) noir by celebrated American crime writer Domenic Stansberry, pitched as reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith and Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty.
W&N Commissioning Editor Federico Andornino acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) in The White Devil by Domenic Stansberry from Cullen Stanley at Cullen Stanley International. The ebook edition is available now and W&N will publish in paperback original and audio in July 2018.
The novel is mostly set in Rome and centres on femme fatale Vicki Wilson – or Vittoria, as she’s known in Italy –, a small-time actress who has left behind a dark past in her native Texas to follow her fading writer husband to the Eternal City. Guided by her controlling, obsessive brother Johnny, Vittoria soon enters the upper circles of Roman society, becoming a paparazzi darling and mingling with shady cardinals and corrupt senators. Among them is Paolo Orsini, who quickly falls prey to Vittoria's charms. Too bad he's married; too bad his wife, an aging film icon, is murdered.
From the ravishing beauty of Rome – a city of dark secrets held within the frescoed walls of glamorous palazzos – to the pristine beaches of Malibu and the dangerous alleys of a mysterious South American city, Vittoria finds herself at the heart of a lethal chase, spiralling dangerously out of control.
The White Devil was initially published by Stansberry’s own imprint in the US, and won the Hammett Prize for Best Crime Fiction, as awarded by the International Association of Crime Writers (past winners include Stephen King, Alan Furst and Margaret Atwood).
Domenic Stansberry is the Edgar Award-winning author of ten novels and a collection of stories. His North Beach Mystery series has won wide praise for its portrayal of the ethnic and political subcultures of San Francisco. Books from that series include The Ancient Rain, named one of the best crime novels of the last decade by Booklist. He lives with his family near San Francisco.
Federico Andornino said: ‘There is something incredibly compelling about Vittoria and The White Devil: you can feel the hot, dangerous atmosphere of Rome’s shadowy streets transpire from each page. Forget the dolce vita and prepare to be transported to a different side of the Eternal City: dark, lethal and completely irresistible.’
Domenic Stansberry said: ‘‘I am thrilled W&N is helping The White Devil make its way back across the Atlantic. I first got inspired to write this novel during a brutishly hot Roman summer, when long-dead Renaissance femme fatale Vittoria Accoramboni appeared to me in contemporary guise on the back of a Vespa, full of innocence, her head buried in her brother’s shoulder. I have been hooked ever since.
Federico Andornino | Commissioning Editor, The Orion Publishing Group | Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment | London, EC4Y 0DZ www.orionbooks.co.uk