We first meet the brash Roman police detective Michele Balistreri in <i>The Deliverance of Evil,</i>which Jeffery Deaver raved is &quot;a nonstop thriller that drives readers relentlessly from the first page to the last&quot; and<i>Publishers Weekly</i> called &quot;a politically charged, Machiavellian tale of fiendish complexity.&quot; In<i>The Root of All Evil</i> we go back to the 1960s, when post-colonial Libya fell prey to the sprawling greed of the West, where the young Michele suffered a succession of personal blows that would scar him for life. The death of his mother; the unspeakable horror that befell his best friend's family; his father's role in Gaddafi's ascendance to power; and the innocent blood pact that would corrupt the course of his future.<div><div><div><div><div><br></div><div>Two decades later, a run-down Commissario Balistreri, now living in Rome, escapes his regrets through sex, alcohol and gambling. His sole responsibilities are now a stilted investigation into the death of a South American student, and a tiresome obligation--in gratitude to the man who saved his career--to a television starlet needing protection from the pitfalls of fame.</div><div><br></div><div>As the risks to this girl, Claudia Teodori, begin to rise along with her reputation, the sorrows of Balistreri's past also start to push back into his present. Both of their fates are inextricably linked, and this driven, obsessive young woman must help this damaged detective fight a foe that follows her and refuses to forget him.</div></div></div></div></div>