Deadly Sins in Venice
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The Venetian Boy
by Michael Willhoite
JMS Books. 255 pages, $15.50 (paper)

“THOUGH THERE ARE some disagreeable things in Venice,” Henry James once wrote, “there is nothing so disagreeable as the visitors.” In the rank and twisted world of The Venetian Boy, however, author Michael Willhoite populates this coming-of-age novel set in the 1970’s entirely with unsavory characters, both visitors to the City of Canals and residents alike. But, thank goodness, the very types of people you’d loathe to meet during a European vacation make for a deliciously good time when you only have to read about them.