'Odysseus' Choice' 
Author: Peter Portelli 
Publisher: Midsea Books / 2025
Pages: 364

Given the author's nationality, Maltese, and his previous novel, a rather romanticised version of the 1565 Great Siege of Malta, most readers would probably not have expected to get this book.

It spans between the last of World War II years and our time, and is focused around the Italian city of Bari. 

In brief, it tries to find out who is behind the spate of deaths caused by poison gas that have taken place not just in the last days of the war but also in contemporary time.

When we come to the end of the story, a dark force emerges that can only be eliminated through direct action by those we would normally label as criminals. That's how confusing the book gets.

The book opens with a cryptic conversation between Winston Churchill (just out of a bath) and President Roosevelt planning something they know is wrong but which they justify by the twisted logic of war.

The war is still going on but has moved. The south of Italy had been liberated from the Nazis and is occupied by the Allies. But the Nazis still harbour ambitions to come back and retake the city which is a main base for them.

On 28 November 1943 the Germans launched a massive attack on Bari, where the Allied fleet was concentrated, a sort of replica of Pearl Harbour.

In the confusion it was noticed that a poisonous gas had been somehow liberated into the atmosphere and that people were dying in masses as a result.

The British blame the Nazis but actually the real culprits are the Brits.

Now, the same nerve gas has appeared again. Where did it come from?

The investigators are perplexed. The aristocratic Contessa Speranza, married to a Fascist who is languishing in prison, owns a huge palazzo but when Bari suffered from the bombing, she opened the palazzo to house victims. Besides, as a member of the female section of the Order of Malta she cared for the wounded at the local hospital, though many who had been in touch with the poisonous gas died an atrocious death.

Not all the characters that are mentioned are bad ones. The Contessa finds help from a variety of people.

Foremost among these is forensic pathologist Casey Morgan who is fighting her own personal battle in the US to clear up her name. On enforced leave, Casey finds a corpse that smells of garlic. The victims have burned lungs, blistered skin, a banned agent.

The autopsy carried out by her opens a trail to buried secrets. As bodies fall and evidence vanishes, Casey's career, freedom and the life of a trusted ally hang in the balance.

Next comes Lt Col. Stewart Francis Alexander, a doctor by profession, who battles censors to uncover the uncomfortable truth after an air raid that caused untold damage to Bari.

On the other hand, the manipulative Col. Paul Hale of the British Secret Service demands silence, so that Britain does not get blamed for the tragedy.

Then MI5 case officer Simon Banks lands in Bari.

And the head of the local criminal gang, Paolo Rossi, and his sister Carmen, find they're on opposing sides.

A huge sports event is scheduled to take place on the Tiber, in the centre of Rome. All authorities, political, military, sportsmen too will be there. Will they too be in danger?

The title of the book refers to the classic myth surrounding Scylla and Charybdis in which the sacrificing of the few is said to ensure the survival of the most.