The Monster of Florence
by Douglas Preston
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Book Summary Information
Author: Douglas PrestonContributor: Mario Spezi
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-25
ISBN: 0446581275
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of The Monster of Florence
Book Review: As Much to Say About Modern Italy as About The Monster
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book in the airport on the way to a stay in Rome. I almost left it unfinished in the apartment we stayed in. I read the book half way through on the way to Rome and finished it on the way back. I'm glad I kept it and finished it. I love Italy. But, in ways that are apparent only when you travel in Italy, Italy is not always a modern society. This book exposes the myth of Italian modernity.
The reading list item 12 on page 344 references an essay by Preston. The item includes a sentence saying "TMOF is not just a book about a serial killer or a bungled investigation; it is a book about modern Italy." I haven't been able to find the essay on the Web, but I couldn't agree more. If someone knows where Preston's essay is posted, please post the link in a reply.
A lot of stuff gets done differently in Italy than in Northern Europe, or France, or the Anglo Saxon countries such as the U.K. or the States. Untruthful and unethical behaviour is a way of life in Italy. It starts at the top and goes all the way down. Talk to Northern Europeans or Americans that live in Italy or have businesses there. Talk to them about the Vigile in Rome. Talk to them about the receipts you receive when you buy stuff. Talk to them about taxes. The limitless variety of ripoffs performed against unwary tourists is an art perfected in Italy.
When I learned in the afterword of "TMOF" that the lead prosecutor overseeing the Knox case was Mignini, I knew she was going to spend the rest of her life in an Italian prison. The best she can hope for is a successful appeal after her conviction.
The handling of The Monster of Florence investigation and case is an international embarrassment to Italy. The Knox situation is the same. That Italian public opinion accepts what has happened and Italian institutions allow investigations and prosecutions to go on the way these two have is shocking. That rational, decision-making processes governed by facts are not an option in matters relating to criminal justice is eye opening. "TMOF" and the Knox cases expose Italy as a combination first-world and third-world country.
I read the book in two sittings. If you don't like crime books but love Italy or are interested in the case, read this book. If you are interested in the Knox case and want to learn more about the Italian criminal justice system and the background on Mignini, read this book.
Summary of The Monster of Florence
In the tradition of John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City, Douglas Preston weaves a captivating account of crime and punishment in the lush hills ofDouglas Preston fulfilled a lifelong dream when he moved with his family to a villa in
Fascinated by the tale,
With the gripping suspense of Preston's bestselling novels, THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE tells a remarkable and harrowing chronicle of murder, mutilation, suicide, and vengeance-with
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
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