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

Enjoyable true-crime novel

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Granted, the cast of characters, all with Italian names, was not easy to follow, but after a few hours of listening things sort themselves out. The narrator was superb - I'd put him in the Scott Brick category. I give up on about 1/3 of the audio books I buy before getting to the end, but not this one. This book actually made me look forward to the next-day's drive down the Interstate.

My biggest disappointment was finishing it. I doubt I'll find an adequate replacement.

One minor quibble: I do not think it was necessary, really, for the narrator to use a fake Italian accent while reading an English translation of what Italians said. The book would have not have been "written" with an Italian accent, and that would have made it easier to understand. On the other hand, the accent was well-done and did add flavor to the story, so it was an artistic decision I probably shouldn't second-guess.

If you like A&E shows like Cold Case Files, and international thrillers, you'll probably like this.

Awsome mystery !!

So what if it's too wordy and detailed... When the author includes the history of the town, he not only tells his story but also empowers us to understand the Floretine Italians. As a devout reader of murder mysteries for over 50 years, this is one of the most riveting books I have had to pleasure to come upon.

Great book, bad reader

The book content is great: good pacing, a lot of threads which weave together into a good mystery and insightful commentary on Florence and Florentines.
However, as a person who spends a lot of time in Italy, married to a Florentine, I am annoyed and distracted by the reader's faulty pronunciation of Italian words and names. He reads the dialogue with a comical caricature of an Italian accent.
I wish I had stuck to the print version (which I bought first.)

Zodiac anyone?

The only thing I could think about while listening to this book was the 2007 David Fincher film, Zodiac. The film is a modern classic thereby making it difficult for The Monster of Florence to compete when essentially dealing with the same topics, e.g. unsolved murders, the unyielding grip of obsession, etc. As for the narration, annoying. The faux Italian emphasis on pronunciation wore on me like a fire alarm that would not turn off. All in all, interesting topic made plain by something far better having preceded it. My advice, throw Zodiac in your Netflix queue and spend your Audible credit on something else.

Exceptional, interesting, recommended

Interesting story, excellent writing, and terrific performance. Definitely worth investing time and money to listen.

Meh....

I am a lover of true crime but this audiobook didn't do much for me. I found the narrators fake Italian accent distracting and the writing was very wordy to a point that made it difficult to follow the meet of the story

Gripping!

I loved this book. The whole thing had me on the edge of my seat, particularly because I've studied and traveled in both Umbria and Tuscany, spending a summer in Perugia. I had no idea of the regions' infamous murderer or the ongoing investigation!
Only complaint is that as an Italian speaker, there were some mispronunciations that drew me out of the story, but the narrator himself was superb.

Equal Parts Astonishing and Horrifying

Where does The Monster of Florence rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I haven't finished it yet, but this is one of the most riveting works I've ever encountered. It's a true story recounting the actions of a vicious serial killer that stalked young couples in the countryside of Florence, Italy and the investigations into the murders. Long after the murders stop, the grinding of the Italian justice system rolls on and starts to rival the horror of the original killings.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Monster of Florence?

When the investigation goes completely off the rails into mad searches for "satanic death cults" & fantastic conspiracies.

What about Dennis Boutsikaris’s performance did you like?

Good, distinguishable characterizations of all the principle people in the book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but I couldn't unfortunately.

Enjoyable listen

Great book and great narration. It does get a bit long in the middle, but if you keep with it it pays off.

Excellent true crime story

This is a highly entertaining and well written true crime murder mystery. I couldn't stop listening. And the reader has a very nice voice with good Italian pronunciations. It is particularly interesting to understand the connection of this case to Prosecutor Magnini from the Amanda Knox trial. A must-read/listen!