The Monster of Florence

Despite my criminal justice background, I'm not a huge fan of true crime books. It's not that I dislike them, but unless the author has a personal connection to the case (ie: The Stranger Beside Me, Helter Skelter) they often just end up being a recitation of the facts without much more going for them.

When I first caught wind of [author: Douglas Preston]'s debacle with an Italian serial killer, The Monster of Florence, I couldn't wait to read the resulting book. How often does one of my favorite bestselling authors end up in the middle of a serial killer investigation, being threatened with arrest on secret charges? His novels about serial killers are outstanding, and I was looking forward to reading his non-fictional account.

While the first half of the book is pretty typical of true crime books as Preston catches the reader up with the history of the killings, the second half is just unbelievable. Above everything else, the logic that the public prosecutor and chief inspector use to put together theories on the case are just so out of this world, it's impossible to believe that they're working in a civilized country in the present era. In what was likely a string of murders perpetrated by a lone psychopath who fit a typical FBI profile, these two men strung together a vast conspiracy involving a satanic cult, body switching, instruments that let people communicate with Hell, and an ever widening circle of suspects. At the forefront of it all is, amazingly, a blogger whose insane conspiracy theorist ramblings are taken as gospel (in the legal pleadings and arguments, the prosecutor quoted her verbatim).

The maxim "truth is stranger than fiction" has never been more accurate than it is here. The fascination for me is not the serial killer himself (as far as serial killers go, he's nothing out of the ordinary - I know this sounds bizarre, but I spent a whole semester studying them), but the Italian criminal justice system. Definitely recommended. ( )

Read this one aloud with Winston. We were fascinated by it.
The description refers to 2 of my / our favorite books: "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and even moreso to "The Devil in the White City".
The recent tie in to Amanda Knox case came to it's final verdict within days of our finishing the book.
The facts of this true story are one of those stories you wouldn't believe it it were fiction.
Definitely a recommended book.
Read in 2011. ( )

an american writer/journalist moves to italy and becomes involved with a serial murder case along with an italian journalist with sources. wrongfully accused of being connected, this book is the american's attempt to explain the facts and his side of the story.

couldn't finish, learned that true crime doesn't rivet my attention. ( )

The premise was interesting but the execution lacked something. It was an easy read. At the end it reminded me a lot of the recent case of the American girl who was recently found guilty of killing her roommate in Italy. And sure enough, Preston made a connection between the two cases. The was the only really interesting part. ( )

Starting off the year with two 4 star books makes me a very happy girl.

As someone who grew up idolizing John Douglas and dreaming of working for the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, I can't believe I had never heard of this case before. I even took a Serial Killers in Literature class in college. It surprises me that the Monster of Florence (the serial killer, not the book) isn't more well known in America. Then again (general) we are notorious for being embarrassingly unaware of anything going on beyond our own borders. Regardless, I guess knowing absolutely nothing of the case worked in my favor because it made for a riveting read. Or listen, since this was an audiobook. It helped me satisfy my Law and Order SVU cravings (a binge I've been on since getting sick in November - 6 seasons down, 8 to go) whenever I had to do responsible adult crap like dinner/laundry/dishes/errands. I also own a print copy, which was handy for the obligatory crime scene and key player photos that can be found in the middle of every true crime book. Good stuff.

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