Giorgio Pellegrini is not a common protagonist. A former terrorist who fled Italy to escape his life sentence; a con with no qualms on taking out his partners so he gets a bigger cut of the spoils; a womanizer who abuses his matrons to feel powerful; a murderer who just enjoys killing.

He even thinks that he’s a bad egg.

In Costa Rica, 10 years after the bombing that earned him his life sentence, Giorgio realizes he’s tired of running and decides to return to Europe.

He spends the next five years performing all manner of illegal activities – while trying to get his name cleared through the court system.

There’s nothing like a criminal who wants to go straight, without actually having to go straight.

Massimo Carlotto has an unaffected writing style that gives his story a flying pace. It also gives credibility to his use of first-person narration – Giorgio’s point of view comes through with undue clarity, and without the obviousness of an author trying to give setting description through the mind of the viewpoint character.

Carlotto can make the most wretched, despicable person believable and even sympathetic to his readers. That is amazing – few writers have been able to pull that off, and many not nearly so well as Carlotto.

“The Goodbye Kiss” is not like many of its kind. It has an edge of realism, with corrupt cops, honorable terrorists and their respective opposites, as well.

The most unbelievable character is Giorgio himself, yet Carlotto spins his prose so effectively that he persuades his readers otherwise.

One commendation for the greatness of this book is owed to Lawrence Venuti. Translators are never given enough credit, especially the good ones.

In “The Goodbye Kiss” there were a few grammatical faux pas, but most of them were barely noticeable.

More important, since I find grammar errors in mainstream U.S. literature, is Venuti’s work with the language. It felt like I was reading the work of a native English speaker. For those who don’t realize the importance of a good translator, I suggest reading the English translation of “Salome,” by Oscar Wilde.

The only real issue I have with “The Goodbye Kiss” is Carlotto has a tendency to use multiple names for characters. This is understandable with those who have aliases in addition to their birth names, and that didn’t present much of a problem with keeping straight. But Giorgio switches between first name, last name and alias in a regular pattern with the characters he addresses.

This is the mark of an amateur writer. Even the argument that it being in first-person narration and so it is how Giorgio would speak or internalize his thoughts, is easily put down. No person uses a rotation of names when referring to others.

Had this issue not been present, I would have rated the book five out of five stars. And I look for every possible reason to dock points. From that, it should be obvious that this is a book you should read. It’s well worth the two hours it takes to get from front to back cover.

Carlotto is one of Italy’s most acclaimed writers and has been compared to the top crime writers in the United States – with good reason. He will be someone to watch in the coming years.