THE GOLDEN EAGLE

A year after fleeing his small hometown in the south of Italy, desperate to leave behind his turbulent past -- the haunting memories of an alcoholic father and the shame of having struck his own mother -- William finds himself wandering the streets of Rome every night, with no destination, in a city that offers distance but no peace. Followed everywhere by his faithful loneliness, William cannot find anything capable of filling the emptiness inside his heart, and so he decides to end his life. But in the midst of his suicide attempt, by chance, he reunites with an old friend heading toward the south of France, and in a sudden surge of impulse, William follows him, chasing the illusion that escape might finally bring him peace. They depart at dawn in a vintage Alfa Romeo, and what begins as a thrilling voyage slowly curdles into a nightmare, eventually leading William into homelessness and addiction, using substances to numb the void consuming him from within. Soon, he realizes that the apple didn't fall far from the tree, that he is becoming his alcoholic, violent father.

Pagina's: 144, Paperback, Independently published