Books

Listen to what I have to tell you…right to the end.

A little boy is found, having lost all memory, in a wood in the Valley of Hell, when everyone had given up hope of finding him. Nico is twelve and appears well: someone has fed him, dressed him, taken care of him. But it’s impossible to find out who, for Nico does not speak. His mind is a darkened house, and seemingly unassailable.

The only person who might be able to get through to him is child psychologist Pietro Gerber, the best hypnotist in Florence, who is called in to explore Nico’s mind and uncover his story. And impossible as it might seem, he succeeds.

He identifies a trigger – a gesture, a combination of words – that sets off something in Nico. But when the boy starts to tell a story, Pietro Gerber realises he has thrown open the door of a forgotten room.

The hypnotist understands that he doesn’t have much time to save Nico, and he soon finds himself trapped in a forest of tricks and illusions.

For the voice speaking under hypnosis is that of the boy. But the story he is telling is not his own.