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

Fantastic story!

Fantastic and engaging true crime story. Narration is very well done for the most part. The Italian impersonations, however, soon become unbearable.

A good "read"

I really enjoyed this book. It was great to know this was a true story. Glad I live in the US.

Riveting!

I am growing very fond of Douglas Preston's writing style. I listened to this all the way through in one go, I couldn't help it. It was just fasincating.

excellent

well written and perfectly narrated. The narrator pronounces the Italian words perfectly and does good Italian accents.

Good documentary but not what I expected

After reading about Pendergast and the few other character books I wasn't expecting a documentary. Should have looked closer. It was very interesting and not that long ago. A worthy listen but I still love Pendergast the most.

A hilarious/disturbing tale

This is a story of Italian Keystone Cops, with a judicial system to match. Part one of the book outlines the facts of the decades-old case, popularly known as the Monster of Florence. This concerns a series of murders of 'courting' couples in parked cars on the outskirts of Florence. Part two takes off at the point when Douglas Preston moves to Florence with the intention of living a wonderful life and writing another novel. But his interest in the Monster story is piqued, he begins investigating, and eventually ends up being a character in the Monster of Florence story. Meanwhile, the police investigation and criminal proceedings become increasingly bizarre. No doubt every country has its stories of corruption within law enforcement systems, but the Florentine system is unlike those familiar to true-crime readers in the English-speaking world and this adds an extra dimension. Mario Spezi, both author and actor in the case, is a very likable character and the voice of reason throughout. The book also provides an interesting look at Florentine culture with its roots dating back many centuries. Dennis Boutsikaris has just the right voice for this story and his dead-pan delivery is perfect since the bumbling and ineptitude speak for themselves. He also does a good job with the Italian accent. True crime, injustice,and 'local colour' with a twist. Well worth reading.

Amazing book and performance

This book was completely fascinating, but it was difficult to go between my actual book and the audio because the chapters were not structured in the same way. The book is broken up in several short chapters, but the audiobook is not. Besides that, great story and performance. This is an incredible and unique case.

Fake Italian Accent

The story might be good, I just can't get past the stupid fake accent. If you don't know Italian.. don't pretend, just read the story!

Loved it!

Great book! True crime at its finest! Drags a little at the end but holds it own

A story that conjures curiosity, outrage, and wonderment!

The twists and turns of the case itself are enough to make the book worth a read. I very much enjoyed hearing the case facts and trying to figure out "who done it".
Add to that the Italian authorities' role and you have what amounts to something in between a conspiracy theorist's wet dream and an honest journalist's nightmare.
5/5, would definitely recommend.