The Curse of Pietro Houdini – Derek B. Miller

The Abbey of Montecassino, founded in 529 A.D. by St. Benedict and pulverized by the advancing Allied invasion of Italy in 1943, is practically a character in this exuberant retelling of a turbulent episode of Italian history.  Narrated by 14 year-old orphan Massimo, the story of his rescue by the mysterious Pietro Houdini, their work of art conservation and theft in the abbey prior to the Nazi’s massive transfer of all the art treasures to the Vatican and elsewhere is just part of an engrossing, well-researched story of human frailty, greatness, and depravity.