The Monster of Florence
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend In the nonfiction tradition of John Berendt ("Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil") and Erik Larson ("The Devil in the White City"), New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston presents a gripping account of crime and punishment in the lush hills surrounding Florence, Italy.In 2000, Douglas Preston fulfilled a dream to move his family to Italy. Then he discovered that the olive grove in front of their 14th century farmhouse had been… Product details and pricing info |
|---|
100 Customer Reviews Posted
- The Search for the Truth
- I visited Florence three months ago and was ignorant of these atrocious crimes committed in the beautiful hillsides surrounding this incredible city. Traveling through Italy, I was unaware of the incompetence and corruption of many of the individuals in positions of authority.
I commend Spezi and Preston for publishing this tale of horror. I appreciated Spezi's dedication to solving this crime and to exposing faulty theories of those wanting only to advance their own careers. Despite interrogations and imprisonments, these men dedicated themselves to offering evidence ignored by prosecutors.
Normally, I avoid books about real-life crimes, yet I was drawn to this story simply because of its location. I do not regret my decision to read this book. The authors' effectively re-create the sickening crimes as well as the progression of the investigations. Though the actual event lacked coherence, I succeeded in following along as different suspects, investigators, and victims entered the story. While the writing style may have lacked sophistication, the story was incredibly riveting. - 2008-09-19, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Very Boring
- I am a great fan of Preston and Preston - Child mysteries, this book however is about the failings and giant egos of those heading up the Italian police and security forces. The crime is never solved and reading about the exploits of the authors as they investigate the murders is merely the same old bs that occurs everywhere/anywhere when those who hold some power are exposed as incompetient idiots, someone must pay for their embarrassment.
- 2008-09-14, 1 of 9 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Not Worth The Time
- Apparently this book originated as a project for an article in the New Yorker magazine. That is probably where it belongs. Not a bad book, but not worthy of a long read.
In short the book fails on several levels.
- The murder(s) are never identified and as such we never learn much about motivation or personality.
- The author attempts to tie in the 'personality' and history of Florence and Italians (think Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) in an unsuccessful attempt to make a thin story more interesting.
- The author generally describes the 'bungling and mis-steps' of the Italian authorities in attempting to solve the crimes, however, the mistakes by the authorities seem so painfully obvious that I was skeptical that the history of the case was properly researched.
Probably not the best author for this type of book. The high reviews are surprising.
I'd pick up Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil or The City of Fallen Angels....much better books, more interesting, and better executed. - 2008-09-13, 2 of 4 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Writer gets caught up in own story..struggles to get out!
- Here's the premise:
Writer Douglas Preston goes to Florence and becomes interested in the case of a serial murderer who's been tormenting the local populace for at least two decades. He hooks up with the local expert on the eponymous monster (journalist Mario Spezi) for research purposes, and both get slowly sucked into the center of the case, no longer spectators but active participants (and suspects). I'm no journalist, but I think you're not supposed to do this!
For this reader, the most interesting part of the story arises not from the actual murder cases themselves, but rather from the spider web that traps Preston and Spezi, In the course of investigating various theories of the murders, they aggravate the wrong people (police, lawmakers, etc), humiliate some of them as well, and attract way too much of the wrong kind of attention. It doesn't take long before they become targets of investigation themselves, and no amount of backpedaling is sufficient to get them out of this mess.
A bit rambling at times, but a good read for those who enjoy true crime with a literary twist. - 2008-09-12, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- wonderful character study in real life
- I am not one who usually reads "true crime" books. This was a wonderful lok into the real life characters that make up the history of the crime and investigation of the Monster of Florence cases. Wonderfully readable, witty, and confounding.
- 2008-09-09, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
