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The Monster of Florence | 
 enlarge | Author: Douglas Preston
Creator: Mario Spezi
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy New: $12.75
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Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 272
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.7 x 1.2
ISBN: 0446581194
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1523
EAN: 9780446581196
ASIN: 0446581194
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
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Amazon.com
Amazon Best of the Month, June 2008: When author Douglas Preston moved his family to Florence he never expected he would soon become obsessed and entwined in a horrific crime story whose true-life details rivaled the plots of his own bestselling thrillers. While researching his next book, Preston met Mario Spezi, an Italian journalist who told him about the Monster of Florence, Italy's answer to Jack the Ripper, a terror who stalked lovers' lanes in the Italian countryside. The killer would strike at the most intimate time, leaving mutilated corpses in his bloody wake over a period from 1968 to 1985. One of these crimes had taken place in an olive grove on the property of Preston's new home. That was enough for him to join "Monsterologist" Spezi on a quest to name the killer, or killers, and bring closure to these unsolved crimes. Local theories and accusations flourished: the killer was a cuckolded husband; a local aristocrat; a physician or butcher, someone well-versed with knives; a satanic cult. Thomas Harris even dipped into "Monster" lore for some of Hannibal Lecter's more Grand Guignol moments in Hannibal. Add to this a paranoid police force more concerned with saving face and naming a suspect (any suspect) than with assessing the often conflicting evidence on hand, and an unbelievable twist that finds both authors charged with obstructing justice, with Spezi jailed on suspicion of being the Monster himself. The Monster of Florence is split into two sections: the first half is Spezi's story, with the latter bringing in Preston's updated involvement on the case. Together these two parts create a dark and fascinating descent into a landscape of horror that deserves to be shelved between In Cold Blood and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Product Description
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 the scene of the most infamous double-murders in Italian history, committed by a serial killer known as the Monster of Florence. Preston, intrigued, meets Italian investigative journalist Mario Spezi to learn more. This is the true story of their search for--and identification of--the man they believe committed the crimes, and their chilling interview with him. And then, in a strange twist of fate, Preston and Spezi themselves become targets of the police investigation. Preston has his phone tapped, is interrogated, and told to leave the country. Spezi fares worse: he is thrown into Italy's grim Capanne prison, accused of being the Monster of Florence himself. Like one of Preston's thrillers, The Monster Of Florence, tells a remarkable and harrowing story involving murder, mutilation, and suicide-and at the center of it, Preston and Spezi, caught in a bizarre prosecutorial vendetta.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 67 more reviews...
 The Insanity that can be Italy August 20, 2008
Laurie Fletcher (Casper, Wyoming, USA)
OK. So the fact that the Italian city states weren't unified into the country we know as Italy until 1861 speaks to a lack of historic organizational structure. And there have been more than sixty government changes at the Prime Minister level since World War II. These elements and more could come into play when examining the chaos that is Italy's judiciary. In Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi's non-fiction account of the "Monster" serial killings around Florence in the 1970s and 1980s, we see that something is horribly, stinking rotten in the core of Italian criminal investigation and prosecution that would take an entire armada of sociologists to understand. To say that fantasy and paranoia drive the actions of even the most senior investigators and judges is to give fantasy and paranoia far too good a name. In a nutshell, why bother going to the heart of the investigation by carefully following evidence that leads to a lone suspect who is a textbook model of a serial killer when you could start a witch hunt that would encompass dozens of people (including a whole village) in a charge of murder as a byproduct of Satanic worship? Without a shred of evidence of course. Why bother taking the most obvious road when you could settle grievances going back decades with spurious charges? Why end the investigation quickly when you could drag it out, garner more publicity, and advance your career?
It is interesting to note that Preston became involved only because he was in Italy doing research for one of his fiction thrillers and just happened to rent a farmhouse next to where one of the murders took place. He started asking questions and was connected with Spezi, whose beat was these murders of young couples trysting in the hills around Florence. Spezi, the seasoned Italian investigative journalist, tells his part of the story first and does an excellent job of laying out the basic facts, including the puzzling-then-horrifying actions of the police and judiciary. His work requires fairly detailed explanations of institutions that don't have true parallels in American society and he does a good job. Both he and Preston, who is much better recognized for his fiction, know their craft and all of their skills are on display in this book. I was especially impressed with how much care is taken to ensure that we know the murdered couples and their stories.
Once the story is laid out and we know the extremely large cast of characters (it really helps to have most of their pictures in a section in the middle of the book), the real story of Spezi and Preston can be told and, to other liberty and sanity loving Westerners, it emerges as a nightmare worthy of Orwell. After writing vigorously about the disarray in the investigation, Spezi is arrested as a suspected accomplice to the murders and all of his notes and research are taken, including his work on this book. Luckily for him, he was able to hide a disk that contained much of what we read here. Preston's status as a world-famous writer did not protect him here, either. Since he didn't arrive in Italy until 2000, they couldn't charge him with being directly involved in the murders but they were able to charge him as an accomplice after the fact and ban him from returning to Italy.
This is an absorbing read from beginning to end and a story that really needs to be told. And it is a cautionary tale about running afoul of Italian authorities. The truth may not set you free.
The Call of the Wild August 18, 2008
Robert S. Lappin (Cape Cod)
"The Story of Edgar Sawtelle".......David Wroblewski
This is a saute of Jack London, J K Rowling and O Henry and I'm only 85%
through. I may have to change my mind, but don't wait for me.If you were once a boy (or what used to be called a tom-boy) who had a dog(s) who you really loved, you will recognise through moist eyes in some situations, what the author is writing about.
You'll find some descriptive portions that suffer from identification problems, but just overlook them and keep reading.
It's worth it.
I hope his next book is quicker, doesn't require as much re-writing and pain.
RS Lappin
Outstanding cultural setting for a fascinating Italian serial murder case. August 16, 2008
Kimberly P. Hagen (Saint Ignace)
If you're interested in detective novels, foreign intrigue and the differences between American and Italian approaches to highly publicized serial murder investigations, this book is a must-buy! Having been stationed in Italy for over 5 years, I was especially drawn into the culture, scenery, and Italian life-style which served as an excellent back-drop and subplot to the main novel.
The author does an outstanding job of following an amazingly complicated case through decades of investigations. Great suspense, wonderful character development, and exceptionally well-written novel. I purchased this book as the result of a great recommendation of a friend, and I loved it!
This would never cut it as fiction. August 15, 2008
B. Billerbeck (Silicon Valley, CA)
Why? Because it's just too strange and fiction has to be believable. This was not believable, but naturally, true. I'm a big lover of Ann Rule, but I think the reason I don't give this a five star is perhaps just culture differences. When the author began speaking of the people, all out at night, watching what goes on in cars -- as if this is normal behavior, well, is it any wonder the police were so inept? It's an amazing story, but it was very graphic (naturally, the crimes were horrific) and I found myself without the need to finish the book. (I did though, it was too expensive not to.)
I do think the author is an amazing writer, but I think the concept was just too hard for me, as a typical American, to grasp.
Shocking! August 13, 2008
Juddman (Wisconsin)
I won't get into this in great detail. I will just say this book shocked me into wondering if I would ever feel comfortable even visiting Italy. The incompetence of the police investigation coupled with it's leader's vengeful attitude is truly alarming. Another reviewer from Italy said they have one of the best police departments in the world? Sorry, but even if you disagree with this book or dislike the writing style it is unavoidable to conclude the system is failed. People jailed for YEARS without a trial and some not being allowed to even know what charges are against them? Horrible. As a side note, my country (the US) isn't any better considering the Guantanamo issue.
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