Finally!!!!!

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi

This book was on bestsellers a while ago and I had been meaning to read it for some time.  When I finally decided to read it, I got into a reading burnout phase and it took me forever to finish it.  I think I might have started it a month ago, I'm not quite sure.  The book is interesting and I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if I would have read more of it consecutively and not a chapter or two a week.  I finally buckled down and finished the last half of it this past week, mostly yesterday.  This book is about a famous string of murders in Italy.  Overall I think there were 16 people murdered over several years.  The coauthor Mario Spezi was a reporter in Florence that covered the crimes and gave the serial killer his name, "The Monster of Florence".  I have to admit that I hadn't heard of this Monster previous to this book but he is considered the Italian Jack the Ripper and the book Hannibal is based loosely on people involved in the murder.  Anyways, this is a true crime story.  Douglas Preston is a murder mystery novelist who decides to move to Italy to write his next novel.  He gets in touch with Spezi to learn more about how the Italian police work.  During their conversation, they realize that the house Preston is living in is the scene of one of the Monster killings.  Spezi tells Preston about the story of the Monster and they decide to collaborate on an article about the Monster.  The first Monster killing was believed to be back in 1968 and was followed by 7 more incidents using the same gun.  The Monster, to this day, has not been found.  Preston and Spezi begin their own investigation to find the Monster and end up being investigated themselves.  Spezi is arrested for being the Monster and Preston is accused of being some sort of accomplice.  The book details the outlandish allegations of the Italian police and botched police investigations.  It is crazy to think that the police would concoct a wild story involving devil worshiping, and dead body switching.  Their arrests were based on nonexistent or planted evidence and shady witnesses like an old prostitute who would turn a trick for a 25 cent glass of wine and a town idiot who repeated statements the police suggested to him.  Several people were arrested and accused falsely involving the case while the man Spezi and Preston believe to be the Monster roams free.  This story is pretty crazy but what is crazier is that it's true.  As much as people hate our legal system, it sure beats those of foreign countries.  It is unbelievable that a person can be charged with a crime without evidence and not told what the crime is that they allegedly committed.