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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: $11.98
You Save: $14.01 (54%)
New (50) Used (36) Collectible (9) from $8.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  105 reviews
Sales Rank: 2664
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.7 x 1.2
ISBN: 0446581194
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.1523
EAN: 9780446581196
ASIN: 0446581194
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 "Inside Of Me, The Night Will Last Forever" June 24, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
In the Sixties and Seventies of the last century, the late Scottish-born novelist Muriel Spark, then living in Rome and Florence, wrote four novels with Italian settings: The Public Image (1968); The Driver's Seat (1970,) in which a deranged young woman actively searches for a man to violently murder her while vacationing in Italy; The Takeover (1976), which accurately predicted the social changes in the world that was to come; and Territorial Rights (1979), set in Venice.
Spark, best known for the far tamer The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), was a moral satirist, and her Italian novels depict greed, envy, betrayal, extortion, blackmail, adultery, rape, robbery, pan-sexual promiscuity, rampant paranoia, prostitution, and violence as routine components of daily life in that country in all tiers of society (to be fair, Spark also identified many of these elements as existing equally in the British Isles in other novels).
Spark eventually settled in the village of Civitella della Chiana outside of Florence, and lived there for several more decades until her death in 2006, so she presumably knew her subject thoroughly.
World-famous Italian film director Dario Argento has, since The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970), created nearly a dozen superb 'giallo' thrillers set in his native country, which frequently locate the root of the killer's psychopathology in the twisted forests of Freudian family romance.
Most viewers have probably assumed Argento's wonderfully bizarre and imaginative films to be little more than effective but dramatically-exaggerated horror films. However, novelist Douglas Preston and journalist Mario Spezi's riveting The Monster of Florence (2008) once again proves the adage that truth is stranger than fiction, and in the case at hand, far stranger, far weirder.
The authors crisply and economically weave a complex, decades-long narrative involving not only a violent Florentine serial killer who preys on young lovers fornicating al fresco, but a thriving nocturnal culture of masturbatory voyeurs, a pair of deadly Sardinian brothers, familial hatred, wife killing, routine adultery, incest, homosexual blackmail, bisexual orgies, vacuous conspiracy mongers given free reign and the public's ear, the use of mentally deficient individuals as key witnesses in court, official charges of Satanism and black masses, spiteful government intimidation of the innocent, wrongful imprisonment, and gross police misconduct on the grandest scale imaginable.
The subtext of this extraordinary story seems to be: visit Florence, visit Italy, at your own risk, as the irrational psychology and limited intelligence of the average Italian citizen is almost as dangerous to your wellbeing as that of the country's most aggressive psychopath.
Obsessions with 'saving face,' status, and the Italian concept of 'furbo,' a combination of envy, personal insecurity, profound cynicism, perceptual coarseness, shallow emotions, and suspicion, rule the day. And in the Italy of The Monster of Florence, "idiots" of all stripes and varieties seem to abound at all levels of society, and in all professions, as nowhere else on the planet.
The depiction of the country in Spark's The Takeover is, by comparison, like The Garden of Eden Before The Fall.
As the narrative procedes, both Preston and Spezi are eventually suspected of either being the actual 'Monster of Florence' or working closely with him, not necessarily because officials felt either was guilty or a particularly good candidate, but simply to pay the pair back for essentially mocking them and their absurd, largely groundless conspiracy theories in public.
If the book has a weakness, it is that Spezi's candidate for the actual Monster of Florence, while highly plausible and backed by a fair amount of circumstantial evidence and witness testimony, doesn't seamlessly fit the killer's profile in the air-tight manner readers might prefer.
That profile, which was developed in conjunction with the American FBI, describes the killer as sexually impotent, and no evidence of such a condition is presented or established other than in theory. On the contrary, Spezi's candidate, who is described in physically attractive, masculine terms, comes across in the text, when interviewed face-to-face, as relaxed, confident, and secure in his identity as a male and as a human being.
Additionally, Preston and Spezi's very-late-in-the-game faith that the corrupt, clearly hostile police and carabinieri would respond fairly, favorably, and rationally to the pair's apparent discovery of the killer's lair, where the 'monster' kept the murder weapon and 'trophies' of flesh cut from the victims secreted for decades, seems both implausible and naive.
Fascinating story, June 26, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a really fascinating book. While I consider myself a high-brow (:-)) I'm a sucker for a well-turned true crime book, and this one satisfies on a number of levels.
First, you couldn't make this story up if you tried. It's both creepy and farcical. The Italians' response to the string of unsolved killings reminds me of the 'Satanic Cult' hysteria we unfortunately experienced here in the States in the 90s - except that in this instance the author himself becomes a suspect in the whole irrational, crazy response. Truly frightening.
I'd never heard of Preston, so I was doubly impressed with his telling of the story. He's a really skilled writer who keeps the action moving along at a nice pace without forcing the weirdness of it all.
It's not IN COLD BLOOD (what is?)but it's great writing and a superb true crime story which you won't soon forget.
Very interesting non-fiction whodunnit June 28, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is an interesting look at a major Florentine serial killer. It is part cultural exploration, part murder-mystery, and primarily non-fiction with a good dose of character development built in. Like many books of its ilk, the culprit is never proven, but along the way one learns about the ruined lives of the victims of the crime and the prosecution, the political manoeverings, and culture of Florence in which it took place.
Well written, it will quickly get you involved int he story and the characters and is a worthwhile read.
 Load of garbage .... June 29, 2008
4 out of 57 found this review helpful
Being Italian and of an age that gives me a pretty good alibi not having been born at the time of the first homicide and being still an infant at the time of the second I guess that I can be cleared on any suspicion if I tell Mr. Preston to fly down a notch or two.
This book is badly written and he didn't understand anything of Italian culture.
The worst thing of all though is that he has sadly misrepresented the best legal system I know, which leave space to the dimwitted to fantasize a total alternative reality.
One last note: I suspect some of the people commenting haven't even read the book.
The murders spanned between 1968 and 1985 and there were 8 couples killed (not considering the first murder the span of time goes from 1974 to 1985 and the couples killed would be 7), so unless math has become a matter of points of view there was not a "killing a year".
I won't ask that you UNDERSTAND before you write, but at least read the book! But also not. Save the money.
Fascinating... July 8, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm not normally a reader of non-fiction, but having heard a little about this story previously, I decided to give this book a try.
I was totally fascinated with the story. Preston and Spezi have done a magnificent job in providing enough details of the murders without bogging it down with confusing forensic details and unnecessary speculation, although they do have their own theory as to who the killer is.
Ultimately, this is not so much a story of the murders themselves, but of the botched investigation and the insanity surrounding those who were supposed to find the killer and bring justice to the victims, people who were more concerned with their own career status that they were willing to go to any lengths to manipulate the outcome to suit their own personal gain.
For those like me who are not normally non-fiction readers, I recommend this book highly, especially for those who like crime/drama fiction.
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