The Safety Net (Inspector Montalbano, #25)

by Andrea Camilleri

how many different kinds of protection there were in this world! There was a widespread desire to feel safe from everything: from what is known,

what is unknown, from what might be but is not necessarily certain to be, from those who arrive from the sea, from those who worship a different God, or from those who worship the same God but pray in a different way. And so it was always best to play it safe. And the forms of protection proliferated. Hadn’t he himself done everything possible to protect Luigino? And didn’t Luigino want to protect his mother? And yet he didn’t know whom to turn to protect himself. Hadn’t the kid said: “Inspector, do you really think they needed to fire their guns to protect me? . . .”

My highlight as well!