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The Monster of Florence
BY THE AUTHOR OF THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD
In the nonfiction 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 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.
In the nonfiction 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 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.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
2177 people are currently reading
41469 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Preston
183 books13.6k followersDouglas Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1956, and grew up in the deadly boring suburb of Wellesley. Following a distinguished career at a private nursery school--he was almost immediately expelled--he attended public schools and the Cambridge School of Weston. Notable events in his early life included the loss of a fingertip at the age of three to a bicycle; the loss of his two front teeth to his brother Richard's fist; and various broken bones, also incurred in dust-ups with Richard. (Richard went on to write The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event, which tells you all you need to know about what it was like to grow up with him as a brother.)
As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.
After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.
In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.
Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.
Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...
As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.
After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.
In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.
Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.
Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...
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January 6, 2020
”This is the nature of the evil of the Monster of Florence. And this is the nature of the evil in each and every one of us. We all have a Monster within; the difference is in degree, not in kind.”
The number of victims involving the Monster of Florence are staggering, those murdered and those accused.
We are all potential killers. Each and every one of us is capable of killing someone, usually that would be while protecting ourselves or protecting someone we love. Then there are those who live in a world of revenge fantasy. They are sensitive to every slight. They keep lists in their heads of every negative thing that has ever happened to them. They are a bomb building inside, and given the right circumstances, the fuse could be lit. They might kill their family or friends or coworkers and feel justified in doing so. They know who they kill. It is very personal.
Then there are what I think of as the soulless people, not in a religious sense, but people lacking a fundamental empathy for others. They are missing something critical that allows them to value life. They are empty and angry. They kill indiscriminately. They walk into night clubs, movie theaters, malls, schools, or churches and kill whoever happens to be there. They might say they have a cause or a specific hate, but fundamentally what it really comes down to is they hate us all.
The Monster of Florence killed 14 people, 7 couples, over the course of a decade...and he got away with it.
Douglas Preston decides to move to Florence, Italy, to write his next thriller. He has fond memories of living in Florence as a teenager and wishes to recapture some of the excitement and wonder he felt in 1969. Of course, as we get older we realize that gossamer wrapped memories are nearly impossible to recreate. Moments of true magic are fleeting and fickle and belong to the age that created them. So maybe Preston didn’t think he could recapture the Florence of his youth, but he certainly didn’t have a clue that he might be imprisoned.
It isn’t his fault.
What was he supposed to do.
Mario Spezi the Florentine reporter who spent decades hunting a Monster, and kept the pressure on the police much to his detriment.
He meets a reporter by the name of Mario Spezi, and he tells him a story. It is an intriguing story of murder, mayhem, Sardinian gangsters, sex, and illusive facts. These are the very things to make a writer’s nostrils quiver like a bloodhound catching the scent of a quarry. To add some more spice, the very olive grove in the backyard of the villa that Preston is renting was the scene of one of the most horrific double murders in Italian history. Most people would be alarmed to discover that such a terrifying event had happened in the place they have chosen to live, but for Preston it seems like his muse has given him a gift.
A living, breathing serial killer trumps a sketchy idea for a thriller.
The police files are full of false leads, bungled investigations, wild speculations, lost clues, and political pressure. Men are arrested and convicted of being the Monster of Florence only to have the true Monster kill again. If this were a novel, the reader would not be able to believe the level of incompetence shown by the Florentine detectives.
There is a desperation to catch the killer, not only because he is murdering necking couples, but also because he is screwing with the sex lives of the entire city. It has been speculated that 1 in 3 people in Florence was conceived in the backseat of a car in the Florentine Hills. As the murder tally grows, more fear is produced. The result is a frustrated city full of people in need of sexual release. The burner needs to be turned down on the boiling pot.
And what about the poor peeping toms or Indians as they are called? Those men who, almost on a professional basis, go out every night to creep around The Hills looking for a good vantage point to watch couples making out. Those perverts are also in need of release, one hand working furiously, as they live, at least for a moment, vicariously through the steamed windows of someone else’s passion.
It begs the question, with so many of these men out there every night, it is almost inconceivable that none of them ever saw anything suspicious. Of course, it is hard to explain to the police why a man is out in the Florentine Hills…ALONE, but then is a man ever alone when he has some spit and a firm hand?
As Mario Spezi and Douglas Preston sift through the evidence and become critical of the investigations initiated by the police, detectives start to focus on them. This is frankly baffling. ”As an American, an author and journalist, I had always enjoyed a smug feeling of invulnerability. What could they possibly do to me?” When two burly cops come to pick him up for questioning, his invincibility starts to feel like a house built on sand.
He became trapped in his own thriller.
I can certainly understand why Douglas Preston became so enthralled with this monstrous tale. He and Spezi even offer up their own ideas about who the killer was, and certainly convinced me that, in the end, the Florentine police abandoned a line of inquiry too soon that would have yielded the identity of one of the most notorious serial killers in world history.
Florence will never be the same for Douglas Preston.
George Clooney
is Douglas Preston
The movie starring George Clooney (playing Douglas Preston) is due for release in 2016. I’m not sure at this point how loose an interpretation the movie will be of the book, but if you’re Preston you have to be thrilled that people will associate your name with Clooney’s face. Yes, George Clooney played me in a movie.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
The number of victims involving the Monster of Florence are staggering, those murdered and those accused.
We are all potential killers. Each and every one of us is capable of killing someone, usually that would be while protecting ourselves or protecting someone we love. Then there are those who live in a world of revenge fantasy. They are sensitive to every slight. They keep lists in their heads of every negative thing that has ever happened to them. They are a bomb building inside, and given the right circumstances, the fuse could be lit. They might kill their family or friends or coworkers and feel justified in doing so. They know who they kill. It is very personal.
Then there are what I think of as the soulless people, not in a religious sense, but people lacking a fundamental empathy for others. They are missing something critical that allows them to value life. They are empty and angry. They kill indiscriminately. They walk into night clubs, movie theaters, malls, schools, or churches and kill whoever happens to be there. They might say they have a cause or a specific hate, but fundamentally what it really comes down to is they hate us all.
The Monster of Florence killed 14 people, 7 couples, over the course of a decade...and he got away with it.
Douglas Preston decides to move to Florence, Italy, to write his next thriller. He has fond memories of living in Florence as a teenager and wishes to recapture some of the excitement and wonder he felt in 1969. Of course, as we get older we realize that gossamer wrapped memories are nearly impossible to recreate. Moments of true magic are fleeting and fickle and belong to the age that created them. So maybe Preston didn’t think he could recapture the Florence of his youth, but he certainly didn’t have a clue that he might be imprisoned.
It isn’t his fault.
What was he supposed to do.
Mario Spezi the Florentine reporter who spent decades hunting a Monster, and kept the pressure on the police much to his detriment.
He meets a reporter by the name of Mario Spezi, and he tells him a story. It is an intriguing story of murder, mayhem, Sardinian gangsters, sex, and illusive facts. These are the very things to make a writer’s nostrils quiver like a bloodhound catching the scent of a quarry. To add some more spice, the very olive grove in the backyard of the villa that Preston is renting was the scene of one of the most horrific double murders in Italian history. Most people would be alarmed to discover that such a terrifying event had happened in the place they have chosen to live, but for Preston it seems like his muse has given him a gift.
A living, breathing serial killer trumps a sketchy idea for a thriller.
The police files are full of false leads, bungled investigations, wild speculations, lost clues, and political pressure. Men are arrested and convicted of being the Monster of Florence only to have the true Monster kill again. If this were a novel, the reader would not be able to believe the level of incompetence shown by the Florentine detectives.
There is a desperation to catch the killer, not only because he is murdering necking couples, but also because he is screwing with the sex lives of the entire city. It has been speculated that 1 in 3 people in Florence was conceived in the backseat of a car in the Florentine Hills. As the murder tally grows, more fear is produced. The result is a frustrated city full of people in need of sexual release. The burner needs to be turned down on the boiling pot.
And what about the poor peeping toms or Indians as they are called? Those men who, almost on a professional basis, go out every night to creep around The Hills looking for a good vantage point to watch couples making out. Those perverts are also in need of release, one hand working furiously, as they live, at least for a moment, vicariously through the steamed windows of someone else’s passion.
It begs the question, with so many of these men out there every night, it is almost inconceivable that none of them ever saw anything suspicious. Of course, it is hard to explain to the police why a man is out in the Florentine Hills…ALONE, but then is a man ever alone when he has some spit and a firm hand?
As Mario Spezi and Douglas Preston sift through the evidence and become critical of the investigations initiated by the police, detectives start to focus on them. This is frankly baffling. ”As an American, an author and journalist, I had always enjoyed a smug feeling of invulnerability. What could they possibly do to me?” When two burly cops come to pick him up for questioning, his invincibility starts to feel like a house built on sand.
He became trapped in his own thriller.
I can certainly understand why Douglas Preston became so enthralled with this monstrous tale. He and Spezi even offer up their own ideas about who the killer was, and certainly convinced me that, in the end, the Florentine police abandoned a line of inquiry too soon that would have yielded the identity of one of the most notorious serial killers in world history.
Florence will never be the same for Douglas Preston.
George Clooney
is Douglas Preston
The movie starring George Clooney (playing Douglas Preston) is due for release in 2016. I’m not sure at this point how loose an interpretation the movie will be of the book, but if you’re Preston you have to be thrilled that people will associate your name with Clooney’s face. Yes, George Clooney played me in a movie.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
July 15, 2008
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 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.
When I first caught wind of 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.
June 21, 2016
Thriller writer Douglas Preston moved to Italy, only to find out the nearby olive grove was the scene of a ghasty double murder. Preston and the journalist originally covering the investigation, Mario Spezi, dig into the case of the Monster of Florence, even winding up being investigated themselves...
I know I made the synopsis sound like a thriller but this is non-fiction, the account of an Italian serial killer and his murders. It's a fascinating journey into a reign of terror that lasted decades and into the psychology of the killer, the Italian press and justice system.
Preston writes the tale in an engaging way, making me forget I was reading nonfiction at times. The Monster of Florence's crimes were brutal and the descriptions of the murders can be somewhat graphic. Each of the suspects almost seemed tailor-made for a book of this type. Spezi's, and later Preston's, frustration was almost tangible. The one thing that reminded me that I wasn't reading fiction is that the Monster of Florence was never caught!
Fun fact: The Monster of Florence, the man, not the book, was a partial inspiration for parts of Hannibal by Thomas Harris.
That's about all I can say without revealing too much. Read it yourself and get drawn into the web of deceit, murder, mutilation, vengeance, and corruption. And you'd be well served to never get suspected of a crime in Italy.
I know I made the synopsis sound like a thriller but this is non-fiction, the account of an Italian serial killer and his murders. It's a fascinating journey into a reign of terror that lasted decades and into the psychology of the killer, the Italian press and justice system.
Preston writes the tale in an engaging way, making me forget I was reading nonfiction at times. The Monster of Florence's crimes were brutal and the descriptions of the murders can be somewhat graphic. Each of the suspects almost seemed tailor-made for a book of this type. Spezi's, and later Preston's, frustration was almost tangible. The one thing that reminded me that I wasn't reading fiction is that the Monster of Florence was never caught!
Fun fact: The Monster of Florence, the man, not the book, was a partial inspiration for parts of Hannibal by Thomas Harris.
That's about all I can say without revealing too much. Read it yourself and get drawn into the web of deceit, murder, mutilation, vengeance, and corruption. And you'd be well served to never get suspected of a crime in Italy.
April 22, 2023
From the late 1960’s to the 1980’s a serial killer sporadically stalked the countryside around Florence, murdering young couples and mutilating the female victims.
Some victims of the Monster of Florence
Over the years, numerous men became suspects, many were jailed, and some were put on trial. To this day, however, the true killer, dubbed “the monster of Florence” has not been identified.
Sketch of 'the monster of Florence'
Monster of Florence suspect Stefano Mele being arrested
Douglas Preston, an author of crime novels, moved to Florence with his family to write a novel. Once there he decided to write a non-fiction book about the monster in collaboration with Mario Spezi, a journalist who had been writing about the subject for years. The result is this book, a fascinating tale about both the serial killer and the culture around Florence at the time.
Douglas Preston
Mario Spezi
Apparently a major recreational activity among the general public in Florence (at least the male half) was spying on young couples making love in cars. This activity included staking out the “best spots” to watch and even paying off the “regulars” to snag their places. Of course, this is very creepy.
Other parts of the story depict the macho culture in Italy, in which some men mistreated, starved, and beat their wives...and even murdered them – often with few consequences.
According to Preston there are probably many reasons the monster of Florence wasn’t caught. Firstly, there was a lot of shoddy police work in which crime scenes weren’t secured and people wandered around at will.
Crime scene photos related to 'the monster of Florence
Second, there was an inept judicial system in which the major players cared more about advancing their careers than convicting the right person. In fact the judges actually closed the investigation on the most likely suspects, forcing police to look elsewhere.
A fascinating part of the book depicts the harassment of Preston and Spezi by the police and the judiciary. In fact, at one point Spezi was accused of being the murderer and put in jail – perhaps in an attempt to stop the publication of this book - which casts officials in a decidedly unflattering light.
Preston and Spezi believe they know the identity of the monster and present a convincing case – but perhaps it’s too late for justice to prevail.
This is a well-written and engaging book. Both mystery fans and true crime aficionados would enjoy it.
You can follow my reviews a http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/
June 27, 2021
“And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
Thriller writer Douglas Preston moved his family to the rolling hills of Tuscany in August of 2000 to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in Italy while researching his latest novel. But when he found that the farmhouse they’d rented had been the scene of a grizzly double homicide, his tale took an unanticipated turn. Intrigued, he met with Italian investigative journalist, Mario Spezi.
In 1981, Spezi received a call about a murder. The rest, as they say, is history. The newspaperman dove into the investigation and became the foremost expert on the "Monster" serial killings. Fourteen young people were slaughtered between 1974 and 1985 by the "Monster of Florence" — the name the journalist had given the predator in one of his early articles. Spezi believed that a homicide back in 1968 had started it all - though the police hotly disagreed with his theory.
The first half of this book reads like a fiction novel, a gruesome one, but compelling nonetheless. The history, massacres, investigation fiascos, and endless arrests of innocent people had me glued to the pages. Unfortunately, the book's second half was often like eating crackers in the desert with no water in sight—a bit dry. I finished it, though, because I needed to know what happened - and plenty happened.
As the pair finished writing this book, they were arrested: Preston for obstruction, and Spezi accused of complicity in the monster killings. They had evidently stirred a hornet’s nest with their in-depth research.
The book is well written and includes a plethora of information about Florence and Tuscany. It’s worth a read, and for true-crime fans, The Monster of Florence is bound to be a winner.
― Friedrich Nietzsche
Thriller writer Douglas Preston moved his family to the rolling hills of Tuscany in August of 2000 to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in Italy while researching his latest novel. But when he found that the farmhouse they’d rented had been the scene of a grizzly double homicide, his tale took an unanticipated turn. Intrigued, he met with Italian investigative journalist, Mario Spezi.
In 1981, Spezi received a call about a murder. The rest, as they say, is history. The newspaperman dove into the investigation and became the foremost expert on the "Monster" serial killings. Fourteen young people were slaughtered between 1974 and 1985 by the "Monster of Florence" — the name the journalist had given the predator in one of his early articles. Spezi believed that a homicide back in 1968 had started it all - though the police hotly disagreed with his theory.
The first half of this book reads like a fiction novel, a gruesome one, but compelling nonetheless. The history, massacres, investigation fiascos, and endless arrests of innocent people had me glued to the pages. Unfortunately, the book's second half was often like eating crackers in the desert with no water in sight—a bit dry. I finished it, though, because I needed to know what happened - and plenty happened.
As the pair finished writing this book, they were arrested: Preston for obstruction, and Spezi accused of complicity in the monster killings. They had evidently stirred a hornet’s nest with their in-depth research.
The book is well written and includes a plethora of information about Florence and Tuscany. It’s worth a read, and for true-crime fans, The Monster of Florence is bound to be a winner.
February 12, 2019
Preston: Well, my New Yorker article about the Monster of Florence won't be published now thanks to 9/11, so I think I should write a book instead.
Editor: But will Americans really be that interested in unsolved lovers lane murders in Italy? We already have the Zodiac Killer and the Son of Sam. Let's make this book about you instead.
Preston: You're right. I am, after all, a Bestselling Author.
Editor: And don't let your readers forget it! I want at least one reminder per page that you're not just any old armchair detective, but a Bestselling Author.
Preston: I did move to Florence in the first place to work on my next novel... I never finished it, but I'll include a page-long plot description so my readers know what a genius I am.
Editor: Don't forget to name-drop all the interesting people you met.
Preston: I'll be sure to include the blue blood Italian nobility I became such close friends with. Even they were impressed by my writing skills! Did you know that Thomas Harris wrote Hannibal in this town? And that Harris was inspired by the Monster?
Editor: Okay, be sure to include that on every page as well so your readers make the connection that you're just as good as Thomas Harris. Now, who is this Spezi?
Preston: He's an Italian journalist that most Americans have probably never heard of, so I'll be sure to minimize his voice in my writing. He was arrested in the course of our investigation, but that's not the story here... the story here is how I helped him out using my influence as a Bestselling Author.
Editor: And this book will be your next bestseller! Be sure to write about how incompetent the Italian police are, just to give everybody Amanda Knox vibes.
Preston: Who?
Editor: Don't worry about it.
Editor: But will Americans really be that interested in unsolved lovers lane murders in Italy? We already have the Zodiac Killer and the Son of Sam. Let's make this book about you instead.
Preston: You're right. I am, after all, a Bestselling Author.
Editor: And don't let your readers forget it! I want at least one reminder per page that you're not just any old armchair detective, but a Bestselling Author.
Preston: I did move to Florence in the first place to work on my next novel... I never finished it, but I'll include a page-long plot description so my readers know what a genius I am.
Editor: Don't forget to name-drop all the interesting people you met.
Preston: I'll be sure to include the blue blood Italian nobility I became such close friends with. Even they were impressed by my writing skills! Did you know that Thomas Harris wrote Hannibal in this town? And that Harris was inspired by the Monster?
Editor: Okay, be sure to include that on every page as well so your readers make the connection that you're just as good as Thomas Harris. Now, who is this Spezi?
Preston: He's an Italian journalist that most Americans have probably never heard of, so I'll be sure to minimize his voice in my writing. He was arrested in the course of our investigation, but that's not the story here... the story here is how I helped him out using my influence as a Bestselling Author.
Editor: And this book will be your next bestseller! Be sure to write about how incompetent the Italian police are, just to give everybody Amanda Knox vibes.
Preston: Who?
Editor: Don't worry about it.
October 7, 2014
Dolci colline di sangue. That's a corruption of an Italian phrase about the rolling hills of Florence; it means Rolling hills of blood. It's also the title of an Italian version of this book and probably a better one.
This book details the investigation into a series of murders that began in 1968 and finally ended in 1985. 16 people were shot to death in the hills surrounding Florence, Italy during that time. All the victims were killed with the same gun.
I do not, as a rule, go in for true crime books. I picked this up because of my obsession with all things Italian. I'm glad I did. This book has kept me up at night, sometimes by the sheer creepiness of it all, and sometimes with slack-jawed amazement at the inability of the police to arrest the murderer.
The city of Florence is a character in this book. I love that fact. I had the great pleasure of visiting Florence over the summer and I will never forget it. The city is beautiful and feels ancient and the people are amazing; they are sophisticated like Parisians, but much more welcoming.
So, the Florence that appears in this book was a shock. The Florence presented here is still a sophisticated and beautiful place that seems to have existed forever, but now it's full of shady, grasping politicians, corrupt and incompetent police and carabinieri who stumble over each other like fools, and, of course, a serial killer who murders young couples and mutilates the women's bodies.
The book was written by an American reporter who lived in Florence for a few years. He started the book with an Italian reporter who was an expert on the case. Slowly, through the years, the two men become more than just reporters; they become involved in the case in the worst possible way short of becoming victims themselves.
I highly recommend this book. It's fascinating in the picture it paints of Florence and the Italian judicial system. It's very frustrating as well due to the fact that the murderer was never caught and, wholly due to corruption on the part of the officials in charge of the case, never will be.
This book details the investigation into a series of murders that began in 1968 and finally ended in 1985. 16 people were shot to death in the hills surrounding Florence, Italy during that time. All the victims were killed with the same gun.
I do not, as a rule, go in for true crime books. I picked this up because of my obsession with all things Italian. I'm glad I did. This book has kept me up at night, sometimes by the sheer creepiness of it all, and sometimes with slack-jawed amazement at the inability of the police to arrest the murderer.
The city of Florence is a character in this book. I love that fact. I had the great pleasure of visiting Florence over the summer and I will never forget it. The city is beautiful and feels ancient and the people are amazing; they are sophisticated like Parisians, but much more welcoming.
So, the Florence that appears in this book was a shock. The Florence presented here is still a sophisticated and beautiful place that seems to have existed forever, but now it's full of shady, grasping politicians, corrupt and incompetent police and carabinieri who stumble over each other like fools, and, of course, a serial killer who murders young couples and mutilates the women's bodies.
The book was written by an American reporter who lived in Florence for a few years. He started the book with an Italian reporter who was an expert on the case. Slowly, through the years, the two men become more than just reporters; they become involved in the case in the worst possible way short of becoming victims themselves.
I highly recommend this book. It's fascinating in the picture it paints of Florence and the Italian judicial system. It's very frustrating as well due to the fact that the murderer was never caught and, wholly due to corruption on the part of the officials in charge of the case, never will be.
September 5, 2015
I am stunned by how much I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Serial Podcast invoked an old and underlying interest in me that has now become an obsession; unsolved mysteries. It is a morbid confession to say how much I enjoy reading about serial killers and spooky mysteries because not only are serial killers the most disappointed and tortured souls to walk the Earth, they usually torment and torture their victims, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. However, their tragic tales sure do tell one hell of a story.
This book is so frustrating that it leaves you thinking a few things you may have never thought before. For one, I probably won't travel to Florence, despite the fact that I am a historian and Florence is the literal birthplace of the Italian Renaissance (no big deal...). The same warped minds that turned a legitimate investigation into a witch hunt of the occult also brought you the international trial of the century; Amanda Knox . Yes folks, when you read about how badly these seemly intelligent men fell so far down the rabbit hole into fantasy-land with the biggest crime in modern Italian history only to be held up on charges of planting evidence and false information, you really begin to doubt the Amanda Knox case in general. I am now even more intrigued to read about that case simply because every time these two dimwits investigate a high profile murder they try to work devil worshiping and Medieval satanic cults into the narrative. Those two guys are like the best.
While it is so maddening to see what Giuttari and Mignini have done to the case of the Monster, that is only a brief part of the book. The first half walks you through the crimes and specific evidence important to the narrative of the crimes. In fact, I was freaking myself out so much I had to put the book down for a few days. This book is stunning in it's storytelling and the ability it has to draw you into it's web of lies, clues, and false confessions. I loved how much I learned from this book in general, mostly about Sardinian culture and this weird gang they brought into Italy from their secluded island. It's like a poor man's version of the mafia and I found it gross and unique. This is investigative journalism at it's best and a highly recommended read for folks who enjoy raveling mysteries and true crime.
This book is non-fiction but reads like a brilliantly woven novel of fiction. It is of course too wild and outlandish to be fiction and can barely be believed as fact. The issue alone of two respected men of the Italian public ministry heading advice from a woman who runs a conspiracy theory website is so outlandish that I still don't believe she ended up being a key witness...but hey...I guess she was. I think this is a story that needs to be read because there are so many important aspects to the book. In fact, the sole reason you should read it is that Hannibal Lecter was based on il Mostro di Firenze
A brief note about who The Monster of Florence was
This book is so frustrating that it leaves you thinking a few things you may have never thought before. For one, I probably won't travel to Florence, despite the fact that I am a historian and Florence is the literal birthplace of the Italian Renaissance (no big deal...). The same warped minds that turned a legitimate investigation into a witch hunt of the occult also brought you the international trial of the century; Amanda Knox . Yes folks, when you read about how badly these seemly intelligent men fell so far down the rabbit hole into fantasy-land with the biggest crime in modern Italian history only to be held up on charges of planting evidence and false information, you really begin to doubt the Amanda Knox case in general. I am now even more intrigued to read about that case simply because every time these two dimwits investigate a high profile murder they try to work devil worshiping and Medieval satanic cults into the narrative. Those two guys are like the best.
While it is so maddening to see what Giuttari and Mignini have done to the case of the Monster, that is only a brief part of the book. The first half walks you through the crimes and specific evidence important to the narrative of the crimes. In fact, I was freaking myself out so much I had to put the book down for a few days. This book is stunning in it's storytelling and the ability it has to draw you into it's web of lies, clues, and false confessions. I loved how much I learned from this book in general, mostly about Sardinian culture and this weird gang they brought into Italy from their secluded island. It's like a poor man's version of the mafia and I found it gross and unique. This is investigative journalism at it's best and a highly recommended read for folks who enjoy raveling mysteries and true crime.
This book is non-fiction but reads like a brilliantly woven novel of fiction. It is of course too wild and outlandish to be fiction and can barely be believed as fact. The issue alone of two respected men of the Italian public ministry heading advice from a woman who runs a conspiracy theory website is so outlandish that I still don't believe she ended up being a key witness...but hey...I guess she was. I think this is a story that needs to be read because there are so many important aspects to the book. In fact, the sole reason you should read it is that Hannibal Lecter was based on il Mostro di Firenze
A brief note about who The Monster of Florence was
May 22, 2018
Im leaving in the morning for Italy and dare not say a negative word about the Italian police and judicial system! Great nonfiction account of a journalism project that went haywire and nearly had its authors locked away for murder. Thomas Harris based Hannibal Lecter on the monster of Florence, but at least he didnt end up arrested. Really good read. No chianti required.
Currently reading
September 29, 2016You know you are a bookaholic when you find yourself in a quaint little bookshop in Venice staring at a copy of The Monster of Florence... CQ convinced me, by way of saying he would pack it in his own luggage, that I was not leaving the shop without this book.
My boyfriend is better than your boyfriend :P. ♥
My boyfriend is better than your boyfriend :P. ♥
August 28, 2015
Wow... I had to actually force myself to read the last half (at least) of this book. It started really well, and the story about the Monster was really interesting. The story on the investigation I found kinda tiresome. It just went on and on and on and there are only so many times I can roll my eyes without bringing on a migraine: the ridiculous antics of the tinfoil hat wearing Italian Police and their legal counterparts got extremely old very fast. Ditto the Preston & Spezi show. The entire last half of the book was in dire need of an editor.
July 19, 2020
I am amazed how awful the justice system is in Italy. It's not that the Monster of Florence case is unsolved. That happens a lot. It's the clear dysfunction of how the case was handled. The innocent people who were falsely accused. The criminal acts done by the very people who were supposed to honoring the law itself. I was gripped from start to finish pausing only to calm the blood that was boiling in me from the shear stupidity of it all. The case was fascinating and horrific. Innocent lives taken so viciously was unsettling. Again I find that the humanity for the victims was a bit lost in the book. I get why, but I find I like the book more when the victims are given a sense of dignity. They had lives prior to their awful ends. All in all if you enjoy true Crime, I would recommend this book.
June 25, 2018
A good true crime story that shows how really terribly wrong an investigation can go when an idiot is put in charge of it. If anything, Preston was too nice in describing the Italian justice system. Recommended to true crime lovers.
June 3, 2014
I listened to this book on audio.
It was a fairly interesting listen, the narrator had a nice Italian accent that contributed a lot to my enjoyment of this novel. It's the horrible story of a serial killer in Florence, Italy. One whose identity remains a mystery to this day.
I learned that Italian police procedures are not reliable and they are unlike anything that we hear about in the U.S. I also learned that the Italian police and investigators do not require the same types of evidence that we do to obtain warrants or to interrogate people. This book made me very glad to be a U.S. citizen.
Anyway, this was an enjoyable "read"- quite different from anything I've read from Douglas Preston before. Sadly, the real killer was probably laughing at the police as they were interrogating Mr. Preston and Mr. Spezi. He is probably still laughing right now, if he's still alive. Just the thought of a killer like that being free is chilling. If you read this book, you will be chilled as well.
It was a fairly interesting listen, the narrator had a nice Italian accent that contributed a lot to my enjoyment of this novel. It's the horrible story of a serial killer in Florence, Italy. One whose identity remains a mystery to this day.
I learned that Italian police procedures are not reliable and they are unlike anything that we hear about in the U.S. I also learned that the Italian police and investigators do not require the same types of evidence that we do to obtain warrants or to interrogate people. This book made me very glad to be a U.S. citizen.
Anyway, this was an enjoyable "read"- quite different from anything I've read from Douglas Preston before. Sadly, the real killer was probably laughing at the police as they were interrogating Mr. Preston and Mr. Spezi. He is probably still laughing right now, if he's still alive. Just the thought of a killer like that being free is chilling. If you read this book, you will be chilled as well.
July 21, 2008
The Monster of Florence is amongst the most disturbing cases I've heard of, much less read a full book detailing, but if you're like me you can't help but want insight into what would make people do such things, or at least know how a town would deal with them. The Monster was a serial killer who stalked, murdered and mutilated young couples in Florence, Italy. He had the disturbing habit of jamming items into the female victims, and cutting off parts of their erogenous zones as souvenirs. Serial murder is so rare in southern Europe and Florence is considered (and certainly considers itself) such a cradle of history and culture that it dumfounded police and sent the public into confused hysteria. People who were merely suspected of not having an alibi or resembling a possible sketch of the Monster were harassed, and at least one suspect committed suicide to escape the pressure. The police, with poor technology and no experience with such a criminal, pursued every lead in often reckless fashion, canvassing people from barbers to doctors to priests (one of whom had his Sunday services scoped out by several officers who eyed him to make sure he didn’t get rid of any evidence). Quacks, mediums, psychics and a few brilliant journalists were consulted as they tried to figure this man (or men) out. Psychological profiles conflicted and stories kept falling through as the Monster continued to terrorize Florence, taking over a dozen victims. Preston walked into an amazing story that Americans hadn’t heard because it happened somewhere else. He pursued the case until he became a suspect. All now in the past, it sounds like it could have been a nice fiction novel, but it was and remains a real horror for Florence.
Mario Spezi is an Italian journalist who followed the case from the beginning, sometimes working with police and often getting ahead of them. Eventually he became a prime suspect in the eyes of the authorities and conspiracy theorists. Spezi is the obvious major source for this book, with Preston playing catch-up. All of Preston’s experience in co-writing books definitely helped put together a cohesive explanation of not just their theory, but of every major theory and stage in the case. Their indignation at eventually becoming suspects (as it seems, they were suspected for having so much interest in the case, journalism not being accepted as a motive for their degree of research regardless of alibis) clearly shows up in their often withering or uninterested portrayals of certain members of the law. When you see their civil rights violated and police procedure abused, it is easy to figure why the writers would become biased against them, and the bias rarely becomes cloying.
One sticking point, though, is that near the end of the book they write themselves like they’re guilty as sin. People normally react to absurd allegations with confusion, unable to wrap their minds around what has been said. Yet in their description of Spezi dealing with officers Spezi immediately figures out what the police suspect, which is the normal conclusion of a guilty mind. Preston’s description of his own interrogation is guarded and almost apologetically explanatory, excusing things he may have said on the record. Afterwards their conversation is dominated with debunking what Preston calls a credible theory that they were guilty. What may have been intended as an evenhanded approach to the crime makes them appear suspicious, and that doesn’t help matters when you’re forced to realize you are hearing one voice (arguably two voices) from one side of a story, without the perspective of officers. They bluntly describe the way police mistreated them without the similar evenhanded approach to explaining that many of these officers might have still believed they were the killers or were helping the real one.
Other issues are more trivial. Did you know Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter was inspired by this case? Probably not, but you’ll never forget it since Preston mentions it over and over again. Harris was here, Harris met this person, this killing that is really nothing like Lecter helped inspire his creation. One of these trivial mentions would have been a neat note and probably would have sold a few more copies of this book. Doing it so often was irksome, almost like literary toadying, especially since they’re so shallow. We don’t get insight into what Harris did or thought. It seems like Preston never spoke to him; he just wanted to drop his name in the introduction and every fifty pages thereafter. Cheap things like this are especially irksome in the face of such a horrifying story. It doesn’t need celebrity cameos.
Like in his fiction, Preston is still working on his manner as a storyteller. This case lends itself to dramatic narrative and frequent cultural references, but he still hams up his prose. He is still the writer who uses “protestations” instead of “protests” and thinks an azure sky is worth noting. He likes flashy or striking portraits of people and places, and has the fiction writer’s impulse to write insights into minds and events he couldn’t have been privy to (I know – I’ve got it too). At points it really detracts from an objective approach or the sense of a totally informed opinion that is crucial in reporting this. Preston’s great instincts as a storyteller and knowledge of journalism bang into each other imperfectly, especially when he becomes more emotionally involved, where I wish I could have read an account from someone other than Preston himself.
Despite these issues, Monster of Florence is well worth reading. The first half gives a rich and thoroughly researched view of the journey through this bizarre and anomalous case of serial murder in the cradle of culture. I’m not a fan of crime writing and found the details and procedure fascinating. Awful as it is to be real, Preston makes his informative story as sizzling as just about any crime fiction – at least until he makes himself a part of it in telling his own role.
Mario Spezi is an Italian journalist who followed the case from the beginning, sometimes working with police and often getting ahead of them. Eventually he became a prime suspect in the eyes of the authorities and conspiracy theorists. Spezi is the obvious major source for this book, with Preston playing catch-up. All of Preston’s experience in co-writing books definitely helped put together a cohesive explanation of not just their theory, but of every major theory and stage in the case. Their indignation at eventually becoming suspects (as it seems, they were suspected for having so much interest in the case, journalism not being accepted as a motive for their degree of research regardless of alibis) clearly shows up in their often withering or uninterested portrayals of certain members of the law. When you see their civil rights violated and police procedure abused, it is easy to figure why the writers would become biased against them, and the bias rarely becomes cloying.
One sticking point, though, is that near the end of the book they write themselves like they’re guilty as sin. People normally react to absurd allegations with confusion, unable to wrap their minds around what has been said. Yet in their description of Spezi dealing with officers Spezi immediately figures out what the police suspect, which is the normal conclusion of a guilty mind. Preston’s description of his own interrogation is guarded and almost apologetically explanatory, excusing things he may have said on the record. Afterwards their conversation is dominated with debunking what Preston calls a credible theory that they were guilty. What may have been intended as an evenhanded approach to the crime makes them appear suspicious, and that doesn’t help matters when you’re forced to realize you are hearing one voice (arguably two voices) from one side of a story, without the perspective of officers. They bluntly describe the way police mistreated them without the similar evenhanded approach to explaining that many of these officers might have still believed they were the killers or were helping the real one.
Other issues are more trivial. Did you know Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter was inspired by this case? Probably not, but you’ll never forget it since Preston mentions it over and over again. Harris was here, Harris met this person, this killing that is really nothing like Lecter helped inspire his creation. One of these trivial mentions would have been a neat note and probably would have sold a few more copies of this book. Doing it so often was irksome, almost like literary toadying, especially since they’re so shallow. We don’t get insight into what Harris did or thought. It seems like Preston never spoke to him; he just wanted to drop his name in the introduction and every fifty pages thereafter. Cheap things like this are especially irksome in the face of such a horrifying story. It doesn’t need celebrity cameos.
Like in his fiction, Preston is still working on his manner as a storyteller. This case lends itself to dramatic narrative and frequent cultural references, but he still hams up his prose. He is still the writer who uses “protestations” instead of “protests” and thinks an azure sky is worth noting. He likes flashy or striking portraits of people and places, and has the fiction writer’s impulse to write insights into minds and events he couldn’t have been privy to (I know – I’ve got it too). At points it really detracts from an objective approach or the sense of a totally informed opinion that is crucial in reporting this. Preston’s great instincts as a storyteller and knowledge of journalism bang into each other imperfectly, especially when he becomes more emotionally involved, where I wish I could have read an account from someone other than Preston himself.
Despite these issues, Monster of Florence is well worth reading. The first half gives a rich and thoroughly researched view of the journey through this bizarre and anomalous case of serial murder in the cradle of culture. I’m not a fan of crime writing and found the details and procedure fascinating. Awful as it is to be real, Preston makes his informative story as sizzling as just about any crime fiction – at least until he makes himself a part of it in telling his own role.
July 11, 2016
The Dark Side of Italy or An Innocent Abroad
Douglas Preston and co-author Mario Spezi undertook their own investigation into an unsolved string of serial killings -- seven couples brutally murdered in near-identical fashion in a period beginning in 1968 and stretching up to 1985. Spezi, a journalist who first caught wind of the case, is its most noted chronicler and was responsible for the appellation, "The Monster of Florence" to describe the killer.
The first half of the book reads like a straightforward true-crime novel, with descriptions of the seven ritualistic killings in all their gory detail. The killer stalked amorous young couples and would single out those parked or camping out in the countryside. Particularly striking were signature mutilations to the female victims.
The lovely Tuscan countryside thus became the scene of some of Italy's most brutal homocides, an irony not lost on Douglas Preston, who inadvertently rented a farmhouse near one of the sites of the earlier killings. Preston meets and befriends Spezi, ultimately becoming engrossed in the Monster Killings himself. It is through Spezi's eyes that the first half of the book is told -- though there are many forays into the numerous major criminal investigations undertaken by the Italian crime units.
The most notable aspect of the first half of the book is how vast the hunt for the Monster was -- and how often it obviously went off course. Thousands were involved in the investigation, and more than a dozen suspects arrested but eventually released. The plot twists and turns fantastically, and if it weren't true, it would almost seem too fantastic. By the time Preston met Spezi and became fascinated by the case, the trail seemed to have gone cold.
Despite the descriptions of the Monster's depraved killings in the first half of the book, it's the second half that is truly chilling. For here Preston and Spezi become victims of a sort themselves, as the investigation takes a truly bizarre turn. The Italian justice system, it seems, has peculiar characteristics, and in particular a judge involved in the case, Guiliano Mignini, goes on a (literal) witch-hunt. Mignini and a local investigator, Guittari, have their own pet theory about the monster: that the killings are the work of a secret group of satanists who have members in very high places.
At first Mignini and Guittari's theory seems laughable -- the "evidence" consists of little more than the rantings of a half-wit and a two liars -- but as Preston and Spezi find out, questioning the judge brings them within his sights, and they soon find themselves under suspicion.
As Preston notes, the surreal case built against them feels very much like something out of Kafka's The Trial, but it has the added horror of really happening. A campaign of wiretapping, home searches, arrest, and relentless inquisition ensues, with Spezi brought to trial and Preston forced to leave Italy or face indictment himself. Preston recounts in riveting first-person, for example, his interrogation by the relentless Mignini. This is a harrowing section, as Preston goes from fairly confident (we Americans are, it seems, programmed to assume the innocent will be freed) to the gradual realization that he could, indeed, end up in jail on the slimmest of evidence.
The motivation for this harassment was straight foward: the judge wanted to prevent Preston and Spezi from publishing their book. He had concocted "evidence" that their motive for writing it was to shield the Satanist cult. Ultimately, however, the book is published, and both Preston and Spezi are subsequently cleared. Spezi emerges as the hero of the moment as he single-handedly demolishes the corrupt judge's "case" in court.
Within the second half of the book, Preston and Spezi also come face-to-face with the man they believe is the actual Monster. This is a chilling scene, and, personally, if I'd been in their shoes, I'd have run for cover after the suspect made veiled threats during the interview rather than try to publish it.
All in all, this is an engrossing read, and one that I have to say was personally disillusioning, for I have (like many) a rather romantic view of Italy, bolstered by an idyllic summer I spent there studying in Perugia (Judge Mignini's very own home turf) back in the 70's. This book presents the dark side of Italian character. It explains why, for example, the Italian public was so willing to believe the fantastic "Satanist plot" theory and dismissed the obvious. Preston and Spezi make a very good case -- based on FBI profiling -- that one man was responsible for the killings. (I won't indulge in a spoiler, but will just say that their logic is impressive and has me convinced.) As the book went to press, the Monster was still out there... and Preston, in an interview done afterward for the audiobook, doesn't believe that it's likely he'll ever be brought to justice.
A word on the reader for this unabridged audiobook, Dennis Boutsikaris: on the whole, he did a good job, with one striking exception -- his "Italian" accent, which was so stereotyped and whining that I found myself mentally "erasing" it whenever he (frequently) spoke for one of the Italian characters. You know that goofy commericial, "Momma mia! That-sa spicy meatball!" Well, that was Boutsikaris' version of Italian exactly. Why the publishers let that pass is almost as much of a mystery as the monster.
Douglas Preston and co-author Mario Spezi undertook their own investigation into an unsolved string of serial killings -- seven couples brutally murdered in near-identical fashion in a period beginning in 1968 and stretching up to 1985. Spezi, a journalist who first caught wind of the case, is its most noted chronicler and was responsible for the appellation, "The Monster of Florence" to describe the killer.
The first half of the book reads like a straightforward true-crime novel, with descriptions of the seven ritualistic killings in all their gory detail. The killer stalked amorous young couples and would single out those parked or camping out in the countryside. Particularly striking were signature mutilations to the female victims.
The lovely Tuscan countryside thus became the scene of some of Italy's most brutal homocides, an irony not lost on Douglas Preston, who inadvertently rented a farmhouse near one of the sites of the earlier killings. Preston meets and befriends Spezi, ultimately becoming engrossed in the Monster Killings himself. It is through Spezi's eyes that the first half of the book is told -- though there are many forays into the numerous major criminal investigations undertaken by the Italian crime units.
The most notable aspect of the first half of the book is how vast the hunt for the Monster was -- and how often it obviously went off course. Thousands were involved in the investigation, and more than a dozen suspects arrested but eventually released. The plot twists and turns fantastically, and if it weren't true, it would almost seem too fantastic. By the time Preston met Spezi and became fascinated by the case, the trail seemed to have gone cold.
Despite the descriptions of the Monster's depraved killings in the first half of the book, it's the second half that is truly chilling. For here Preston and Spezi become victims of a sort themselves, as the investigation takes a truly bizarre turn. The Italian justice system, it seems, has peculiar characteristics, and in particular a judge involved in the case, Guiliano Mignini, goes on a (literal) witch-hunt. Mignini and a local investigator, Guittari, have their own pet theory about the monster: that the killings are the work of a secret group of satanists who have members in very high places.
At first Mignini and Guittari's theory seems laughable -- the "evidence" consists of little more than the rantings of a half-wit and a two liars -- but as Preston and Spezi find out, questioning the judge brings them within his sights, and they soon find themselves under suspicion.
As Preston notes, the surreal case built against them feels very much like something out of Kafka's The Trial, but it has the added horror of really happening. A campaign of wiretapping, home searches, arrest, and relentless inquisition ensues, with Spezi brought to trial and Preston forced to leave Italy or face indictment himself. Preston recounts in riveting first-person, for example, his interrogation by the relentless Mignini. This is a harrowing section, as Preston goes from fairly confident (we Americans are, it seems, programmed to assume the innocent will be freed) to the gradual realization that he could, indeed, end up in jail on the slimmest of evidence.
The motivation for this harassment was straight foward: the judge wanted to prevent Preston and Spezi from publishing their book. He had concocted "evidence" that their motive for writing it was to shield the Satanist cult. Ultimately, however, the book is published, and both Preston and Spezi are subsequently cleared. Spezi emerges as the hero of the moment as he single-handedly demolishes the corrupt judge's "case" in court.
Within the second half of the book, Preston and Spezi also come face-to-face with the man they believe is the actual Monster. This is a chilling scene, and, personally, if I'd been in their shoes, I'd have run for cover after the suspect made veiled threats during the interview rather than try to publish it.
All in all, this is an engrossing read, and one that I have to say was personally disillusioning, for I have (like many) a rather romantic view of Italy, bolstered by an idyllic summer I spent there studying in Perugia (Judge Mignini's very own home turf) back in the 70's. This book presents the dark side of Italian character. It explains why, for example, the Italian public was so willing to believe the fantastic "Satanist plot" theory and dismissed the obvious. Preston and Spezi make a very good case -- based on FBI profiling -- that one man was responsible for the killings. (I won't indulge in a spoiler, but will just say that their logic is impressive and has me convinced.) As the book went to press, the Monster was still out there... and Preston, in an interview done afterward for the audiobook, doesn't believe that it's likely he'll ever be brought to justice.
A word on the reader for this unabridged audiobook, Dennis Boutsikaris: on the whole, he did a good job, with one striking exception -- his "Italian" accent, which was so stereotyped and whining that I found myself mentally "erasing" it whenever he (frequently) spoke for one of the Italian characters. You know that goofy commericial, "Momma mia! That-sa spicy meatball!" Well, that was Boutsikaris' version of Italian exactly. Why the publishers let that pass is almost as much of a mystery as the monster.
November 22, 2012
This book - especially the second half - is a primary source in the investigation of an unsolved serial murder case and the odd behavior of an Italian prosecutor in the decades following. It's irreplaceable if it's a case you find interesting, and it's an account which has direct bearing on the Amanda Knox case from a few years ago.
Unfortunately, it's not a very good book, partly because it doesn't know what it wants to be - a thriller about the murders? An exploration of the Italian legal system? A first-person account of an odd few years? Add to this writing that is pulpy and often lazy, so that the characters (real people) feel flatter than cartoons. Similarly, I never felt the author offered a good description of Florence itself.
I left the book without feeling I had any better understanding of events than I had already gleaned through snippets of journalism here and there, although I did have a slightly better command of some of the minor details. I leave with some sympathy for Douglas Preston, but mostly in a way that makes me second guess him and selfishly believe I ought to be living his life instead of him.
Unfortunately, it's not a very good book, partly because it doesn't know what it wants to be - a thriller about the murders? An exploration of the Italian legal system? A first-person account of an odd few years? Add to this writing that is pulpy and often lazy, so that the characters (real people) feel flatter than cartoons. Similarly, I never felt the author offered a good description of Florence itself.
I left the book without feeling I had any better understanding of events than I had already gleaned through snippets of journalism here and there, although I did have a slightly better command of some of the minor details. I leave with some sympathy for Douglas Preston, but mostly in a way that makes me second guess him and selfishly believe I ought to be living his life instead of him.
September 3, 2012
I'm a bit behind on my thoughts on what I've read so am going to give this a quick get-go. If you're a fan of true crime then this is a must read.
I've read a few of the Preston/Child Pendergast books and love that character. I'm appreciative of the detail he can provide to his novels from his background with the Natural History Museum of New York.
Somehow I missed Monster of Florence but I'm so glad I picked it up on audio for a recent road trip with my husband. We were both mesmerized by this story of the murder of 14 young lovers who meet their deaths in lover's lane like settings in the beautiful hills of Florence. Preston brings his family to Italy to fulfill a lifetime dream and write a new fiction novel. He soon learns the magnificent villa he has rented was once the scene of a most horrific crime, the unsolved murder of a soon to be married young couple who picked the wrong place for a bit of romance and making out. Joining up with Italian journalist, Mario Spezi, Preston gets caught up in the 20 year history of these serial murders that reveal a dark side to a setting that most would give their eye teeth to visit.
Who was this monster that plagued Florence for so many years and then seemed to disappear? Preston and Spezi unfold the evidence in a narrative flow that reads like fiction but is all too true. Read it and make your own conclusions.
I've read a few of the Preston/Child Pendergast books and love that character. I'm appreciative of the detail he can provide to his novels from his background with the Natural History Museum of New York.
Somehow I missed Monster of Florence but I'm so glad I picked it up on audio for a recent road trip with my husband. We were both mesmerized by this story of the murder of 14 young lovers who meet their deaths in lover's lane like settings in the beautiful hills of Florence. Preston brings his family to Italy to fulfill a lifetime dream and write a new fiction novel. He soon learns the magnificent villa he has rented was once the scene of a most horrific crime, the unsolved murder of a soon to be married young couple who picked the wrong place for a bit of romance and making out. Joining up with Italian journalist, Mario Spezi, Preston gets caught up in the 20 year history of these serial murders that reveal a dark side to a setting that most would give their eye teeth to visit.
Who was this monster that plagued Florence for so many years and then seemed to disappear? Preston and Spezi unfold the evidence in a narrative flow that reads like fiction but is all too true. Read it and make your own conclusions.
October 17, 2008
I found this book good at the start, but slightly dry and disappointing. The story is compelling enough be then it meanders off into nowhere, really, and ends with the investigation stalling. So, basically they went through all of that for nothing. Sometimes, real life is stranger than fiction - but in this case, it's probably more boring than fiction would be. At the end of a fictional novel, the killer would have been unmasked and good will have triumphed over evil. In this version, the evil was split between some weird Florentine families and a lazy police deparment...all in their quest for notoriety and power - and I have to say I need to include the two authors in this.
Egotistically speaking, they ended up making this story more about themselves than the killer - it's no wonder no one turned up any new evidence.
Egotistically speaking, they ended up making this story more about themselves than the killer - it's no wonder no one turned up any new evidence.
October 23, 2019
Because this book was written by a fiction writer, it was a breath of fresh air to true crime literature. I liked the pace and the history of the murders interspersed with the history of Florence and the surrounding area. The first two thirds of this book tell a gruesome and interesting story about a serial killer most Americans know little about. I would have given it four stars had the book stopped there. The last third is about freedom of the press in Italy and, while important to democracy and freedom of information, that just isn't what I am looking for in true crime.
June 25, 2012
Não costumo dar muito 5 estrelas pelos livros e peço desculpa ser uma unhas de fome :P Mas o facto é que este livro me agradou mesmo muito. Não só pelo relato verídico e quase científico do modus operandi do Monstro de Florença mas também a forma como o governo italiano me chocou ao tentar abafar o caso.
Sou fã de Douglas Preston, acho-o mais do que um mero entertainer de literatura thriller e aflige-me ter passado por um conjunto de situações que me deixaram simplesmente incrédula.
Muito, muito bom este livro!
Sou fã de Douglas Preston, acho-o mais do que um mero entertainer de literatura thriller e aflige-me ter passado por um conjunto de situações que me deixaram simplesmente incrédula.
Muito, muito bom este livro!
August 28, 2025
Everyone is suspicious, I’m suspicious, my thoughts are all over the place, I have like 15 theories, none of them seem believable enough, and my head hurts.
January 28, 2019
No matter what I read this year, I seem to notice at least one of a few common threads. Perhaps it's just my imagination; but in the case of this book, the themes include the witch hunt mentality, the danger of conspiracy theories, and the general inability of human beings to think critically and question their own beliefs.
This is a story about madness. I don't mean the killings themselves, although they qualify, but the mental imbalances necessary for Giutarri and Mignini to convince themselves and others that the killings had been carried out by a "...shadowy cabal of wealthy and powerful people, seemingly beyond reproach, who occupied the highest positions in society, business, law and medicine", in order to "...obtain the sex organs of girls for use as the obscene, blasphemous 'wafer' in their Black Masses", and that the authors of this book, Preston and Spezi, who were working on their own counter-investigation of the killings, were likely involved. One of the critical pieces of 'evidence' was a Tuscan doorstop found in Spezi's home that Chief Inspector Giutarri claimed was "...an esoteric object used to communicate between this world and the infernal regions."
A part of me would find it strangely reassuring if this had been just good old garden variety intimidation of the press, but the theory that Mignini developed when he went on to become the prosecutor in the Amanda Knox case suggests that he really believes these Satanic sects are behind everything, and that he's able to convince others. The authors suggest that Italian culture in particular lends itself to this sort of thing, perhaps it does, but Satanic sects hold some degree of purchase on the American imagination as well. I was reminded of the prosecutor in Texas who made effective use of a defendant's Judas Priest tattoos, although I don't think Amanda Knox has Judas Priest (or even Black Sabbath) tattoos. It's frightening to think about what the law can put you through in a nominally democratic country, and then to consider what it could put you through in a country that isn't nominally democratic.
As for the Monster, sometimes referred to as the Jack the Ripper of Italy (although as my friend Billy points out, he probably had more in common with Son of Sam- they both killed couples having sex in parked cars, they both used pistols, both struck in the summer, both inspired witch hunts), I'm no expert, but Spezi's theory strikes me as much more rational: "...that the Monster of Florence was a lone psychopath who murdered couples for his own sick, libidinous reasons." The most persuasive pieces of forensic evidence linking the murders seem to be the shell casings from a .22 Beretta, first used in a murder in 1968. Spezi and Preston track down the person they believe had the best chance to come into possession of that pistol, the son of one of the original suspects, and he turns out to be a fairly ominous guy. No law against that, but if someone's way of answering the question of whether or not he's the Monster of Florence is to smile coldly and say, "I like my pussy alive", well, you might want to follow up on him. Then again, maybe it really was Satan.
August 29, 2015
A lot of this book centered around Mario Spezi, not so much The Monster. I grew bored when the author went into detail about Italy and the people of Italy and his own personal narrative. And jeez Louise the incompetence of the Italian criminal justice system (and police) was getting on my nerves.
Not enough meat in this book, and if I hear the word 'carabinieri' one more time I'M gonna kill somebody.
Not enough meat in this book, and if I hear the word 'carabinieri' one more time I'M gonna kill somebody.
May 6, 2017
2.5
A very disappointing read, I was expecting information about the Monster and the crimes committed, instead this read more like a biography of Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi and how they became involved with the police investigation. Also the writing was really bad, haven't read any of Preston other books (and probably won’t) but you can tell non-fiction is not his strong suit. Meh
A very disappointing read, I was expecting information about the Monster and the crimes committed, instead this read more like a biography of Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi and how they became involved with the police investigation. Also the writing was really bad, haven't read any of Preston other books (and probably won’t) but you can tell non-fiction is not his strong suit. Meh
August 26, 2017
[library]
Okay, so I'm going to start with something catty, for which I apologize, but it also serves as a pretty good tl;dr:
This book would be greatly improved by about 80% less Douglas Preston and a concomitant 80% more Mario Spezi.
I am NOT INTERESTED in Preston's story of the American naif whose romantic vision of Florence is ripped apart by his investigation of the Monster of Florence. This is a tired old plot--John Clute dissects it in The Darkening Garden: A Short Lexicon of Horror--and I don't think it works very well in nonfiction. It's so obviously a story about the blindness of privilege and Preston so completely fails to come to grips with the way he forces his friends into the roles he imagines their identities to be that I find it mostly a frustrating scaffold around the actual story. I am especially not interested in all the name-dropping and subtextual bragging about his obvious wealth. (Dude can afford to drop everything and move to Florence with his wife and two children on (a) a whim and (b) a moment's notice. This is a guy who is not worrying about his car payments, let's just leave it at that.) But ultimately, I just DON'T CARE about the perspective of a wealthy American bourgeois who waltzes into the story 40 years after its murky beginnings and foregrounds HIS anagnoresis & collateral angst over the story of either (a) Il Mostro & his victims or (b) the story of Mario Spezi, the Italian journalist who has been writing about Il Mostro since 1974, and who was actually arrested and imprisoned for his pursuit of the truth. (Preston was interrogated & threatened ... and allowed to leave Italy. Not quite the same.) I would be much more interested in a translation of Spezi's collected writings about Il Mostro, or even in a translation of the book Preston & Spezi wrote in Italian, Dolci colline di sangue--it's not the same as The Monster of Florence, since part of TMoF takes place around the publication of Dcds--possibly TMoF is just an expansion/translation of Dcds, but since Spezi gets equal billing in Dcds & is only a "with" for TMoF, I have some doubts. If Preston clarified this point in TMoF, I missed it.
LEAVING THAT ASIDE (and again I apologize for being catty), the story of Il Mostro di Fiorenze is trainwreck-fascinating, both the brutal unsolved murders and the absolutely lunatic theories of the official investigations and the terrible terrible damage they have done and continue to do to innocent people. Preston says, both in the book and in the vapid interview that was a bonus feature at the end of the audiobook, that he doesn't think the case will ever be solved, and I understand that belief. Unless Il Mostro himself confesses (and by now he may very well be dead), the truth may be hopelessly buried beneath conspiracy theories about organ-harvesting Satanists.
As I'm sure you're learning to expect from my reviews of audiobooks, I once again was driven nearly to distraction by the reader. He was so excellent for the most part that I was stupidly surprised that that's not what Douglas Preston actually sounds like, but whenever he was reading quotes (in English) from Italian speakers, whether they were speaking English to Americans, speaking Italian to Americans, or speaking Italian to other Italians, he used an Italian accent, complete with nasal sing-song, that was distracting as all fuck and just NOT NECESSARY. It's not like we're going to forget that the story is set in Florence or that everyone except Preston is Italian.
Okay, so I'm going to start with something catty, for which I apologize, but it also serves as a pretty good tl;dr:
This book would be greatly improved by about 80% less Douglas Preston and a concomitant 80% more Mario Spezi.
I am NOT INTERESTED in Preston's story of the American naif whose romantic vision of Florence is ripped apart by his investigation of the Monster of Florence. This is a tired old plot--John Clute dissects it in The Darkening Garden: A Short Lexicon of Horror--and I don't think it works very well in nonfiction. It's so obviously a story about the blindness of privilege and Preston so completely fails to come to grips with the way he forces his friends into the roles he imagines their identities to be that I find it mostly a frustrating scaffold around the actual story. I am especially not interested in all the name-dropping and subtextual bragging about his obvious wealth. (Dude can afford to drop everything and move to Florence with his wife and two children on (a) a whim and (b) a moment's notice. This is a guy who is not worrying about his car payments, let's just leave it at that.) But ultimately, I just DON'T CARE about the perspective of a wealthy American bourgeois who waltzes into the story 40 years after its murky beginnings and foregrounds HIS anagnoresis & collateral angst over the story of either (a) Il Mostro & his victims or (b) the story of Mario Spezi, the Italian journalist who has been writing about Il Mostro since 1974, and who was actually arrested and imprisoned for his pursuit of the truth. (Preston was interrogated & threatened ... and allowed to leave Italy. Not quite the same.) I would be much more interested in a translation of Spezi's collected writings about Il Mostro, or even in a translation of the book Preston & Spezi wrote in Italian, Dolci colline di sangue--it's not the same as The Monster of Florence, since part of TMoF takes place around the publication of Dcds--possibly TMoF is just an expansion/translation of Dcds, but since Spezi gets equal billing in Dcds & is only a "with" for TMoF, I have some doubts. If Preston clarified this point in TMoF, I missed it.
LEAVING THAT ASIDE (and again I apologize for being catty), the story of Il Mostro di Fiorenze is trainwreck-fascinating, both the brutal unsolved murders and the absolutely lunatic theories of the official investigations and the terrible terrible damage they have done and continue to do to innocent people. Preston says, both in the book and in the vapid interview that was a bonus feature at the end of the audiobook, that he doesn't think the case will ever be solved, and I understand that belief. Unless Il Mostro himself confesses (and by now he may very well be dead), the truth may be hopelessly buried beneath conspiracy theories about organ-harvesting Satanists.
As I'm sure you're learning to expect from my reviews of audiobooks, I once again was driven nearly to distraction by the reader. He was so excellent for the most part that I was stupidly surprised that that's not what Douglas Preston actually sounds like, but whenever he was reading quotes (in English) from Italian speakers, whether they were speaking English to Americans, speaking Italian to Americans, or speaking Italian to other Italians, he used an Italian accent, complete with nasal sing-song, that was distracting as all fuck and just NOT NECESSARY. It's not like we're going to forget that the story is set in Florence or that everyone except Preston is Italian.
October 12, 2018
Book on CD narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris.
3.5***
In the early 1980s the residents of Tuscany were terrorized by a serial killer every bit as brutal as Jack the Ripper. Known as the Monster of Florence, the psychopath was never caught. In August 2000, Douglas Preston moved his family to Florence; he intended to write a murder mystery. As part of his research he met with Mario Spezi a local crime reporter and celebrated journalist. Spezi regaled Preston with various stories and then commented that the villa Preston and his family were renting was next to one of the most infamous murder sites in Italy. Very quickly Preston abandoned the mystery novel and began working with Spezi to uncover all they could about the Monster of Florence. This is their story.
This work has some of the elements that make true-crime books so fascinating. The reader already knows that the murders will happen, may even know some of the details, but the writers manage to build some suspense into the recitation of facts. While, in this case, the murderer is never brought to justice, there are plenty of suspects, including the two journalists, a group of Sardinians, a pharmacist, a “village idiot,” and much-talked-about secret satanic sect.
What made the work less interesting to me, however, was the necessary focus on the ineptitude of the Italian police, prosecutor and judge. Necessary because both Spezi and Preston became the targets of repeated investigations, allegations and criminal charges as a result of their efforts to write a book about the case. The result is a somewhat circuitous argument with no resolution.
Dennis Boutsikaris does a very good job narrating the audiobook. He sets a good pace, and makes the characters sufficiently unique so as not to confuse. Still, I was glad to have a copy of the text handy, because it includes a map and numerous photographs.
3.5***
In the early 1980s the residents of Tuscany were terrorized by a serial killer every bit as brutal as Jack the Ripper. Known as the Monster of Florence, the psychopath was never caught. In August 2000, Douglas Preston moved his family to Florence; he intended to write a murder mystery. As part of his research he met with Mario Spezi a local crime reporter and celebrated journalist. Spezi regaled Preston with various stories and then commented that the villa Preston and his family were renting was next to one of the most infamous murder sites in Italy. Very quickly Preston abandoned the mystery novel and began working with Spezi to uncover all they could about the Monster of Florence. This is their story.
This work has some of the elements that make true-crime books so fascinating. The reader already knows that the murders will happen, may even know some of the details, but the writers manage to build some suspense into the recitation of facts. While, in this case, the murderer is never brought to justice, there are plenty of suspects, including the two journalists, a group of Sardinians, a pharmacist, a “village idiot,” and much-talked-about secret satanic sect.
What made the work less interesting to me, however, was the necessary focus on the ineptitude of the Italian police, prosecutor and judge. Necessary because both Spezi and Preston became the targets of repeated investigations, allegations and criminal charges as a result of their efforts to write a book about the case. The result is a somewhat circuitous argument with no resolution.
Dennis Boutsikaris does a very good job narrating the audiobook. He sets a good pace, and makes the characters sufficiently unique so as not to confuse. Still, I was glad to have a copy of the text handy, because it includes a map and numerous photographs.
July 21, 2021
"The Monster of Florence attracted me because it was a road into the wilderness. The case was the purest distillation of evil I had ever encountered, on many levels. It was, first of all, the evil of the depraved killings of highly disturbed human being. But the case was about other kinds of evil as well. Some of the top investigators, prosecutors, and judges in the case, charged with the sacred responsibility of finding the truth, appeared to be more interested in using the case to leverage their power to greater personal glory."
The Monster of Florence is an amazing true story that is too insane to believe. A psychopath or psychopaths' killed couples in romantic spots around Florence for decades. The people of Florence were terrified and the investigators struggled to solve the case. Many people were arrested and charged with the crimes but were likely innocent. This case is believed to be the basis for Thomas Harris's famous villain Hannibal Lector.
The murders and mystery surrounding all the suspects is only 1/2 the story. The corruption and incompetence of the investigators, police and judges is almost more horrifying since these are supposed to be the good guys.
Because of the violent nature of the crimes this may not be for everyone but for fans of books about real crime this is a great read.
The Monster of Florence is an amazing true story that is too insane to believe. A psychopath or psychopaths' killed couples in romantic spots around Florence for decades. The people of Florence were terrified and the investigators struggled to solve the case. Many people were arrested and charged with the crimes but were likely innocent. This case is believed to be the basis for Thomas Harris's famous villain Hannibal Lector.
The murders and mystery surrounding all the suspects is only 1/2 the story. The corruption and incompetence of the investigators, police and judges is almost more horrifying since these are supposed to be the good guys.
Because of the violent nature of the crimes this may not be for everyone but for fans of books about real crime this is a great read.
March 10, 2009
Crime writer Douglas Preston moved his family to Italy where he planned to begin work on a new crime novel. When he met Mario Spezi, an Italian journalist, he never expected that he and Spezi would become obsessed and entwined in a horrific Italian crime investigation whose true life details rivaled the plots of his own fiction thrillers!
I had seen an investigative report on television about this crime several years ago, and was excited to read the book. It's very interesting, and the reader will get an eye-opening picture of what the Italian judicial system is really like.
I had seen an investigative report on television about this crime several years ago, and was excited to read the book. It's very interesting, and the reader will get an eye-opening picture of what the Italian judicial system is really like.
November 7, 2024
This book was so compelling. It is a wonderful piece of storytelling that captures the crimes of an Italian serial killer and the blundering police/judicial system in Italy. Reading through this I was shocked, gripped, disgusted, annoyed, and many other emotions that would take too much time to list, not because of the writing (which is wonderful), but from how everything played out. The included afterward with the "link" to the Amanda Knox case only further cemented those feelings. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in True Crime.
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