Characters
Lorenzo De Santis
Regional civil protection, chairs the meeting at the Prefecture
Lorenzo De Santis is with the regional Protezione Civile, the civil protection agency that decides, in an emergency, who has to leave. At the Prefecture in Naples he chairs the meeting where Lena Voss is to assess whether the region is ready for an evacuation, and he does it without seeming to be in charge. He is in his mid-fifties, with a gray crew cut, and keeps his jacket buttoned despite the heat. He takes notes while others talk and phrases his questions so the answers fit the minutes. When the ground shakes, he finishes his sentence at the same speed. His messages have no exclamation points. He wants real numbers, not planning figures.
First encounter
- First noticed: the jacket buttoned despite the heat
- Speaks: politely, a little long-winded, always ready for the record; at their first meeting he calls Lena “Frau Dr. Voss”; quote: “I want real numbers.”
- Object: the buttoned jacket; a coffee he doesn’t drink
Connected to
- Lena VossOceanographer at the ICRU in Hamburg, following a falling line
- Sofia EspositoVolcanologist at the Osservatorio Vesuviano, grew up in Pozzuoli
- Paolo FerraraInfrastructure office, drew much of the zone map
- Naples and PozzuoliA city in a volcano’s hollow, on ground that’s rising
Spoiler-free. This describes the starting point of the book named, without its major twists or resolutions.