A SINFUL PLEASURE

It’s been four years since publication of Jon Land’s last book, too long by any thriller fan’s standards. But his latest, The Seven Sins, was unquestionably worth the wait. This time out, on the surface Land offers up a terrorist attack on Las Vegas with the promise of another in the offing, further honing his well-practiced skills. Below the surface, though, The Seven Sins evolves into a captivating tale that reworks the genre’s structural boundaries as it introduces a fascinating hero ripe for the times.

Michael Tiranno (aka "The Tyrant"), an orphaned Sicilian farm boy, is taken into the home of mob boss Luciano Scaglione where he swiftly ingratiates himself into the godfather’s good graces, thanks to his wits and savant-like financial acumen. Scaglione sees in Michael the potential to become "as ruthless and knowledgeable in the world of business as we are in Cosa Nostra."

Scaglione totes around a notebook containing careful documentation of the many sins he must atone for, lending the book its title as well as its primary theme. For, make no mistake about it, this is a book about sins, and it was Michael’s that somehow led to the attack on Las Vegas in the first place.

Flashbacks featuring his development into a Meyer Lansky-like impresario bent on legitimizing the Scagliones’ ill-gotten gains rotate with present day chapters in which he confronts the threats to both Vegas and himself. The route to Michael’s financial survival runs directly through his past, linking the two timelines seamlessly and resulting in one of the most complex and complete characters ever seen in thriller fiction. Not since Vito Corleone and his sons roamed the pages of The Godfather has there been a hero who better exemplified the pursuit of power at all costs and the price that comes with it.

When Michael sets out to save Las Vegas from a second, apocalyptic attack, he does so to save his own mega-resort, and his dream, from destruction. Essentially he’s not out to save the world, just his own financial butt. But he’s also a man who once risked everything to protect a woman and her sons from retribution at the hands of his adopted family.

Like all great classical heroes cloaked in the vestiges of their own moral ambiguity, Michael seems doomed (if that’s the right word) to a life in isolation. The two people he’s closest to are there because they serve him: his corporate counsel Naomi Burns and ever-present killing machine of a bodyguard Alexander. Both are as proficient in their worlds as Michael is in his, as if he can only mix with those worthy of his graces.

His journey to save his Seven Sins Casino from destruction takes him deep into the heart of his past where a shocking secret awaits along with a vengeful female pirate descended from the ancient Cilicians. Raven Khan is after Michael for his golden medallion, originally worn by Caesar, that may, may, hold the mystical source behind all his power. The medallion also forms the symbolic center of the book, encapsulating Michael’s Machiavellian pursuits and ambitions, even as it leads him to question his own gains. We can only wonder how close his adventures are to those of his real life inspiration, international investor Fabrizio Boccardi who is launching an entire media and gaming empire based on the fictional Tiranno’s exploits.

Either way, The Seven Sins is the best thriller of the year, even the decade. The perfect prototype for sensibilities both challenged and changed by 9/11 that scoops us up and whisks us along for a wild ride. We can only hope it won’t take another four years until the next trip.