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The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
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The Monster of Florence

by Douglas Preston

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  MaryakaPigluv | Jan 5, 2010 |
America isn't the only place with serial killers. But for some reason, the story of the Monster of Florence didn't make it over here until a U.S. writer ended up involved. I'd heard about this story a year or two ago when I saw it on Dateline. Honestly, the judicial system there makes ours look stellar.

Couples on what we would consider lovers' lanes are murdered. The men are shot, the women mutilated. This goes on for decades with no clue as to who the culprit is. Journalist Mario Spezi gets the first case to report on by accident and continues to write about the case with every attack. He's considered an expert. Douglas Preston and his family move temporarily to Florence so he can research a novel. When he meets with Spezi in the course of that research, he discovers that the home he's rented is basically on the site of one of the murders. Preston becomes as obsessed with the case as Spezi, the two of them discovering evidence that disputes what the police have. When a new inspector takes over the case, both Spezi and Preston are arrested. (Not a spoiler--you find this out right away.) An excellent book and a scary one as well. ( )
  PirateJenny | Nov 9, 2009 |
This was totally engrossing, especially since I was bopping around the Italian countryside near Florence when these murders were happening. ( )
  dbree007 | Oct 23, 2009 |
The book was kind of a bundle of facts and fiction. These two guys have two very different styles and some how they just did not connect. Lots of interesting information - information as scattered as thoughts in a young teenager's diary. Previous line is an example of how the book is written. As buggy as an infested mattress in a drug den. Ahhhhh
  RavRita | Oct 13, 2009 |
Picking up this book, I was expecting an exciting real life mystery, and while there are certainly elements of that in the still unsolved murders committed by "The Monster of Florence" this is more a story of the utter failure of the Italian justice system in the handling of the case than of the murderer himself. The theories put forth by the investigators and the level of evidence that seems to be acceptable in the Italian court system is the real horror story here, and the authors get caught up in it. Overall, I found the book enjoyable, if slightly unsatisfying. The evidence does seem to point towards the suspect put forward by the authors, but the mishandling of the evidence and investigation makes it impossible to come to a solid conclusion, and I suspect that "The Monster" might simply have gotten away with it.
  pursuitofsanity | Oct 10, 2009 |
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In 1969, the year men landed on the moon, I spent an unforgettable summer in Italy.
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Monster of Florence

Book description

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0446581194, Hardcover)

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

(retrieved from Amazon Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:40:45 -0500)

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