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
- A chilling page-turner!
-
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (7/08)
Author Douglas Preston, his wife Christine, and their two children Isaac and Aletheia, moved to Florence, Italy in the year 2000. As a journalist and a murder mystery author, Preston had the freedom to live wherever he wanted and it had always been a lifelong dream of his to move to Italy. They rented a farmhouse in the olive groves at the end of a dirt lane and he began research on his next novel. A friend of Preston's put him in contact with Mario Spezi (the co-author of this book), a crime reporter for over 20 years. Preston was interested in talking to Spezi because he wanted to learn more about Italian police procedure and murder investigation so that the novel that he was working on would be factually accurate.
It was this first meeting with Spezi that introduced Preston to the murders committed by "The Monster of Florence." Coincidentally, Preston's farmhouse happens to be right near the scene of one of the slayings. From the years of 1974-1985, fourteen young lovers were murdered while parked in the hills around Florence. Despite being the most expensive and longest running investigation in Italian history, the murderer has never been found. Spezi shares with Preston the information that he has about the crimes and takes him around to the murder sites. They dig to try to uncover the truth but their probing may lead to more than they bargained for.
One of the things that surprised me most was that the story of "The Monster of Florence" was pretty much unknown in the United States, especially considering the fact that the FBI was involved in the investigation. It is also interesting to note that Spezi believes that Thomas Harris' character of Hannibal Lecter was based on "The Monster of Florence." In fact, Spezi even saw Harris at one of the trials taking notes.
I really enjoy true crime stories and found the story of "The Monster of Florence" to be very fascinating and intriguing. It was interesting to read how the original investigation into the murders was handled and learning about the missteps along the way. The writing in the book is definitely not for the faint of heart as the gruesome murders are described in great detail, but anyone who enjoys true crime stories will most surely enjoy this book - 2008-07-30, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Rehash of a rehash
- I first read about the so-called "monster of Florence" in the long New Yorker article by Douglas Preston. I found that the book is just a rehash of co-author Spezi's book about the subject and a longer digressive rehash of Preston's New Yorker article. Add to that the rehash of the Thomas Harris book "Hannibal" and you've got nothing much that's new. A waste of paper.
- 2008-07-28, 3 of 19 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- great read
- This is ohe of my favorite authoris and this book lives up to all his ohers.
- 2008-07-27, 0 of 1 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- The Monster of Florence
- There are two stories here and one theme based on a true story of a serial killer. A page turner until the Monster stopped killing and the unresolved mystery left this reader disappointed in spite of the dramatic events that take place in the author's story in the second half of the book. Much of the book is taken up with conjecture about the Monster's identity and ended not with a bang but a whimper. Good historical background on Florence and the Italian pysche but overwritten in parts. Still a very good yarn.
- 2008-07-27, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- The Monster of the Italian justice system revealed
- Fingering a serial murderer is a lot easier in Italy than capturing and convicting one in the Clockwork Orange Italian justice system. Corrupt judges and publicity seeking prosecutors bring cases for political reasons, engage in rampant wire taps, effecting searches, arrests and jailing of journalists, force trials and appeals which go on for decades; all are detailed in this personal expose' of Italian life beyond the rolling Tuscan landscapes, the Montepulciano red wine and the Bernini statuary. This book draws the reader in as a true crime story but suddenly morphs into a journalistic counter punch by the authors in defense of their actions in reporting the crimes. It sags midway through and bogs down as they explain alternate theories of the identity of the killers, expose satanic sects and rituals, detail their arrests and interrogations and recount long boring email communiqués from strange bloggers. The book is a searing indictment of the Italian judicial system and the inability of the Italians as a people to build a stable democracy firmly based on an impartial rule of law.
- 2008-07-27, 3 of 5 people found this review helpful, Rated:
