Helpful Score: 1
What a great book! A murder mystery/cheeky travel guide/ex-pat adventure/bumbling bureaucratic farce/journalist-fighting-injustice tale - and more - the book is a delightful read. Moving from shocking and chilling one moment to laugh-out-loud funny the next to sadly poignant then appalling, the story weaves a fascinating and complicated tale. It makes me want to visit Florence - then not to for fear of accidentally catching the attention of local law enforcement. After introducing the writers, the book opens as a serial killer stalks the Florentine countryside killing young lovers and horribly mutilating the female corpses. Spezi, the journalist, begins following and writing about the killer - the Monster - as the facts of the killings and related details are laid out, bringing the reader up to date as Preston's story begins with his move to Florence in 2000. Preston first becomes intrigued then unwittingly legally involved in the case as the farce loses its humor and becomes a too personal peril for Preston, Spezi, and others as a conspiracy theory spins fantastically out of control (with satanic cults, bogus psychics, political manipulations, outright lies and more) and into an international incident. I've always felt I could rely on Preston for engrossing fiction and now find he is equally adept at non-fiction writing. Highly recommend.
