Monster of Florence

wag.mado@evpl — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:20:00 GMT

Wow! That was what I was saying most of the way through Douglas Preston's bestselling book. To think I wandered around Florence in the dark four years ago without ever knowing of these crimes. It gives me goose-bumps. If you didn't pick it up while it was on the NY Times Best Sellers list last year, it's not too late.

This is a true-life crime story like no other. A serial killer began a killing spree in 1968 murdering young lovers all around the Tuscan countryside. It ended 20 years later with a total of 16 victims. Douglas Preston became fascinated with the story after moving to Florence in 2000, and soon became involved in writing a book about the mystery, after spending countless hours with crime reporter and co-author, Mario Spezi. The tale weaves, twists, zigzags, and finally turns you upside down, when the authors become part of the story itself.

"Monster" has all the hallmarks of a modern work of fiction - mystery, murder, body parts, police corruption, deception, satanic cults, revenge, and madness. Will the real killer be revealed? Preston and Spezi give us a final twist at the end and plenty to think about.

United Artists and Tom Cruise have acquired the movie rights to "Monster of Florence" and we'll see if the movie is as good as this book.

"The Lost Daughter" by Elena Ferrante

Guatemama@evpl — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:06:00 GMT

An odd and perhaps even a little disturbing novel, The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante, is the tale of a divorced mother who finds herself at a loss after her two daughters move out to live with their father. So she packs her bags and goes on holiday to a small village in Italy where she encounters and befriends a young mother and her family on the beach. In the process she reminisces about the time when she herself was a young mother and about life as a small child in the care of her own mother. Haunted by decisions of her own past, she sets out to "guide" her new friend onto another path -- in the most unusual of ways.

The Lost Daughter was originally written in Italian and this version is an English translation.

More Reviews of The Lost Daughter.

Books Blog : Italy

Monster of Florence

"The Lost Daughter" by Elena Ferrante