In With the New

January 2014 book release: The Sicilian Mafia: A True Crime Travel Guide

by Carl Russo

THE DARKEST DAYS of winter behind us, we’re revived by a faith that the new year will be better than the last. Yeah, good luck with that.

But hark! What soulful cry drifts over Mediterranean waves, a seductive song resounding across millennia, beseeching us to come ever nearer? A Siren, serenading us with her ancient, haunting melody. Sure, it just might be the wailing of a police cruiser in Palermo, running down street soldiers of the neighborhood Mafia gang. But it’s too late, we’re mesmerized—Sicily beckons, and Mount Etna roars with approval.

Fantasy aside, there’s no better time to ask Sicily to give up her secrets, and not just because airfare wars have reduced the price of European plane tickets to the cost of pizza for two. February is the perfect month to visit. The thaw below the peaks will be well under way. This is a picture I took last February, not far from the city of Caltanissetta.