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by: Douglas Preston List Price: $25.99 Amazon.com's Price: $17.15 You Save: $8.84 (34%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.1523 EAN: 9780446581196 ISBN: 0446581194 Label: Grand Central Publishing Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 336 Publication Date: June 10, 2008 Publisher: Grand Central Publishing Release Date: June 10, 2008 Sales Rank: 3983 Studio: Grand Central Publishing Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: In the nonfiction tradition of John Berendt ('Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil') and Erik Larson ('The Devil in the White City'), New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston presents a gripping account of crime and punishment in the lush hills surrounding 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. Amazon.com Review: Amazon Best of the Month, June 2008: When author Douglas Preston moved his family to Florence he never expected he would soon become obsessed and entwined in a horrific crime story whose true-life details rivaled the plots of his own bestselling thrillers. While researching his next book, Preston met Mario Spezi, an Italian journalist who told him about the Monster of Florence, Italy's answer to Jack the Ripper, a terror who stalked lovers' lanes in the Italian countryside. The killer would strike at the most intimate time, leaving mutilated corpses in his bloody wake over a period from 1968 to 1985. One of these crimes had taken place in an olive grove on the property of Preston's new home. That was enough for him to join 'Monsterologist' Spezi on a quest to name the killer, or killers, and bring closure to these unsolved crimes. Local theories and accusations flourished: the killer was a cuckolded husband; a local aristocrat; a physician or butcher, someone well-versed with knives; a satanic cult. Thomas Harris even dipped into 'Monster' lore for some of Hannibal Lecter's more Grand Guignol moments in Hannibal. Add to this a paranoid police force more concerned with saving face and naming a suspect (any suspect) than with assessing the often conflicting evidence on hand, and an unbelievable twist that finds both authors charged with obstructing justice, with Spezi jailed on suspicion of being the Monster himself. The Monster of Florence is split into two sections: the first half is Spezi's story, with the latter bringing in Preston's updated involvement on the case. Together these two parts create a dark and fascinating descent into a landscape of horror that deserves to be shelved between In Cold Blood and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. --Brad Thomas Parsons Average Rating:
 Rating:  - libraryasstI loved Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Devil in the White City, along with Ann Rule and other true crime tales. I did not love Monster of Florence. Not only do you have the dissatisfaction of the unresovled nature of these gruesome murders, but you have the disjointed style of dual authors, separate tales and so much time and attention given to obviously unrelated crimes and theories. It sounds like the Italian legal system is going to have another go at that ... Read More Rating: - When the reporter becomes the story...This book was written as a documentary rather than a novel. Consequently the characters were not well developed- not any moreso than a reporter might flesh out the players in a crime under investigation. There was more "telling" than allowing actions and words to bring the characters to life. Although the story of the Monster is intriguing on its own, the story of the reporters Spezi and Preston becomes the more compelling plot. This is not a very complimentary piece with respect to the Italian system ... Read More Rating: - ReviewThe Monster of Florence is based on a true story. The story is surrounding numerous killing that took place in Florence, Italy that transpired in the late seventies and early eighties. The killer was dubbed "The Monster of Florence". By the time the year 1984 had rolled around, the Monster was the most talked about killer in the world. Around the same time, the killer had already killed about seven couples that the police knew about anyways. The killings went on for many years. The search ... Read More Rating: - awful waste of timekept hoping it would improve but NO ... one of the worst books i ever read ... boring, repetitious ... a waste of time. too bad because it is an interesting subject. Rating: - Just let yourself be surprised by this unusual true crime storyI suppose I was expecting something ala Ann Rule in the way of a true crime novel, but what I got was totally different and fascinating and surprising. I read the 1* and 2** reviews - they seem to be bogged down in disappointment that it wasn't what they expected instead of giving themselves over to a rather amazing, too-incredible-to-be-fiction story. I'm a terrible book snob, so it's rare for me to pass along a reading idea. However, I gave it a high recommendation to friends and family who have generally ... Read More |
