The Monster of Florence

By: Douglas Preston, Mario Spezi

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

In 2000, Douglas Preston and his family moved to Florence, Italy, fulfilling a long-held dream. They put their children in Italian schools and settled into a 14th-century farmhouse in the green hills of Florence, where they devoted themselves to living la dolce vita while Preston wrote his best-selling suspense novels.

All that changed when he discovered that the lovely olive grove in front of their house had been the scene of the most infamous double-murders in Italian history, committed by a serial killer known only as the Monster of Florence. Preston, intrigued, joined up with the crack Italian investigative journalist Mario Spezi to solve the case.

The Monster of Florence tells the true story of their search for - and identification of - a likely suspect, and their chilling interview with that man.

Then, in a strange twist of fate, Preston and Spezi themselves became targets of the police investigation into the murders. Preston had his phone tapped and was interrogated by the police, accused of perjury, planting false evidence and being an accessory to murder - and told to leave the country. Spezi fared worse: he was thrown into Italy's grim Capanne prison, accused of being the Monster of Florence himself.

The Monster of Florence, which reads like one of Preston's thrillers, tells a remarkable and harrowing story involving murder, mutilation, suicide, carnival trials, voyeurism, princes and palaces, body parts sent by post, séances, devil worship and Satanic sects, poisonings and exhumations, Florentine high fashion houses, and drunken peasants. And at the center of it are Preston and Spezi, caught in the crossfire of a bizarre prosecutorial vendetta.

©2008 Splendide Mendax, Inc. and Mario Spezi (P)2008 Hachette Audio

Riveting case, excellent performance

What did you love best about The Monster of Florence?

What a crazy story; very textured, with lots of memorable details, like the cabal of voyeurs that spies on lovers in cars in the Florentine hills, and occasional peeks of the author Thomas Harris, who borrowed some details of the Monster case for Hannibal Lecter's Italian sojourn.

What did you like best about this story?

Both Spezio and Preston's sections had a good balance of case detail and personal observation that elevated this book above more workmanlike true crime stories.

Have you listened to any of Dennis Boutsikaris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I would happily listen to this reader again.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I found brief Preston's account of how 9/11 affected the story moving. Later in the story, I was disturbed by the information that the prosecutor in the infamous Amanda Knox case was involved in the mismanagement of Monster of Florence events towards the end of this book.

Outstanding & thought provoking

this book was fascinating. There may have been too many facts included at some points, but overall the detail is what made it so interesting. This book was truly scary (not in the horror) sense, but in the statement on society sense. You will find yourself making excuses to be able to listen.

Fascinating!

I wouldn't have even bothered with this book had it not been recommended to me by my mom. I was hooked when she told me that the Monster of Florence was the real life inspiration for the Hannibal Lector character. And after listening to the story I was in awe of the Italian judicial system. Great, great book and even better to listen to!!

Good story, bad reading

The Monster of Florence's story has been told many times in italy, by many brilliant writers, but this book beats them all: it's very detailed, yet gripping. Spezi's theory on the monster's identity is questionable but also likely, like all the alternatives. I'd give this book five stars if it were not for the very bad reading. Most italian names are mispronounced at the point of being almost unrecognizable, even for somenone who has read and knows most of what was written about the monster. And the choice of giving all dialogues a stupid italian accent (not even florentinian, more south italian) is nonsensical and irritating: it makes it look like that the dialogues took place in bad english, while, obviously, they were all in italian.

Lengthy but interesting.

The lengthy and ever-changing cast of characters in this book was difficult to follow.
I love the country of Italy although, after listening to this book and following the trail of Amanda Knox I can only view Italy with a guarded skepticism of their legal system.

Monsters Live Among Us--This One May Still Be

What a graphic book about a real life serial killer that killed between 1968 and 1985 and remains at large in 2006 when this book was written. Douglas Preston is a well known mystery writer in the US, most notably for his Pendergast crime solving books. Mario Spezi is a well known journalist in Florence, Italy, and familiar with being harassed by the police. The book begins with Preston moving his family to Tuscany to live in a 14th century farmhouse, where he finds out the most infamous double murder in Italian history took place. He wants to find out more and meets Italian investigative journalist Spezi, who may know more about the murders than anyone else in Italy. The book is a true story of they search for the killer. They believe that have identified the killer and actually interviewed him during their research. Later the two become targets of the police who tap their phones, interrogate Preston and tell him to leave the country. Spezi is harassed by the police, has his house turned upside down while police look for the research documents about the Monster (they do not find them). Spezi winds up spending several months in prison with no charges filed. It is a bizarre story of a paranoid police force more interested in saving their reputations from corruption than solving the murders that happened so long ago. It is a fascinating tale of a true unsolved murder, and the killer who may remain alive while this investigation is ongoing. The audible version was fascinating and the conclusion with the interview of Douglas Preston brings it all home. Dennis Boutsikaris made the characters jump out at the listener. His Italian accents were delightful.

Good story marred by reader

Good, fascinating story. I stayed with it to the end, despite being repeatedly distracted by the reader’s offensive rendering of an Italian accent.

The second half is worth the wait

The first part of this book is interesting, but when the author steps into the story in the second half, it gets really good.

So fascinating!

Wanted to read something about Florence as I will travel there for the first time in some months. As this is true crime I figured it counts as history and indeed this story is very fascinating. Dark for sure but a very interesting glimpse of florentine history and culture.

Douglas Preston, Mario Spezi excellent partners

A thoroughly riviting audible. The Italian judicial system and the characters come to life in this well written and detailed account of Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi's search for the truth about The Monster of Florence. I look forward to future literary products from Douglas Preston.