sensitive minds better keep away!

Dear readers,

Today I present you a best selling thriller « the monster of Florence » which captivated me and (I have to admit) made me scare a bit. It is based on the true story of a serial killer, which murdered 8 couples in the beautiful city of Florence between 1968 and 1985. 

The 2 authors, one of my favourite thriller writers Preston Douglas and the Italian journalist Mario Spezi tell this story in a really particular way, different from all the other crime stories I have read before. The specificity of this book is in fact that the authors have been deeply involved in the case and have investigated at the moment of the crimes. The readers get, in this way, an authentic view of the case.
At the beginning of the story, the readers are faced to the horrible and bloody murders, told by Mario Spezi. The second part tells the point of view of Preston Douglas who moved with his family to Florence and met Spezi. The two men, fascinated by the case, decide to work together to find the murderer. They get so close to the murderer that the police suspect them to be involved in the crimes.

In fact, what shocked me the most was not the brutality and perversity of the murders BUT the incompetence and corruption of the Italian police. The further I read the more outraged I got .The police wasn’t interested in finding the REAL criminal but only on protecting their image. A lot of detectives also took profit of the situation to get higher on their career without any scruples. 

In my opinion this thriller is a fantastic example of how the authorities really work in such cases and of how fast paranoia can spread across a whole country making innocent people become enemies of the state. At the end of the book Preston and Spezi think they have found the real murder and it is very  frustrating for the reader to see that the police do absolutely nothing.
It isn’t a pleasant book you read before going to bed but it is definitely worth reading.