Sue Hassel

In Boca Di Lupo: A Novel of Artistic Destiny, Aspiration, Creativity, Recognition... and Fracture.... Sue Hassel

In Boca di Lupo is Sue Hassel's first novel following up her initial book Random Thoughts of a Creative Mind, a collection of poetry and essays also published by Outskirts Press which has enjoyed wide readership internationally. In Boca di Lupo is the story of talented Soprano Lisa Brennan who began as a modest farm girl in Wisconsin and whose talent as an important solo artist which began in Wisconsin, expanded to Europe internationally performing at Covent Garden, Vienna Stats Oper, La Scala and the Lincoln Opera in New York City. It is the story of a dedicated musician with great discipline who managed an initially modest voice and thrilled audiences throughout the world as her voice matured. Operatic voices can begin as shooting meteors and with time the brilliant lightning bolt begins to age like a fine wine, eventually thinning some and refining to become an established artiste. At a certain point the body changes and the voice follow into secondary leading roles that can be managed to the end of a career. Lisa, however, is not so lucky since fate throws her a curveball when she is thrown into a sudden life or death struggle in the remote woods of New Jersey as a result of an unintended kidnapping by a criminal who has been a lifelong grifter who made a ghastly mistake and jumped into an empty cab for a joy ride and drove off with an unseen famous opera singer who had her head buried in her luggage as she dug through her bag in the back seat of his cab! Was it fate or just bad luck? The rest of the story plays out in the dense woods of New Jersey in a battle of survival to the death. The irony is that Lisa grew up on a farm and did heavy work. The grifter ends up dead in a heap of bloody sinew and scattered cerebral tissue. The grifter misjudged his mark. He is dead and Lisa is charged with second degree murder and is brought to trial by a famous attorney. How will this all play out? Will Lisa ever sing again publicly?