Massimo Carlotto: "The Master of Knots"

This is going to be a short review because I really don't have a lot to say about "The Master of Knots" by Massimo Carlotto. Just not my type of book, I guess. I'm not the biggest fan of crime fiction but I do it enjoy it once in a while - especially writers like Jo Nesbo and Jussi Adler-Olsen or Andrea Camilleri, if we're talking Italian. So I had some hope for this one - I was basically expecting something like an Italian Nesbo which is asking a lot, I will admit... 

The plot is something to do with the S&M underworld of Northern Italy and although it's not something that I know a whole lot about (see my 50 Shades of Booooring review), the author came across as really judgmental to me. Or at least his characters did. It seemed like everything that the S&M-related characters got up to was blamed on their "sexual deviancy" and there was much too much talk of shame and disgrace for my taste. 
Especially when you consider the fact that the characters were pretty boring at the best of times. The main character is a private investigator/club owner who is terribly traumatized from the years he spent in prison, innocently convicted of something pretty vague. His business partners are pretty much carbon-copies of him and it all got a bit blurry for me because they were all pretty cardboardy and one-dimensional. 
The plot lacks imagination and not even the so-called sexual deviancy can save it from being bland, boring and un-engaging. 

Summing up this novel in one word, I would say: meh. Nevermind. Moving on to the next book swiftly and definitely not re-reading this one. 

"Skinny Dip" by Carl Hiaasen

Chaz Perrone is a douchebag, this is clear from the first page of Carl Hiaasen's "Skinny Dip" where aforementioned Mr. Perrone's wife is taking a headfirst, involuntary dive from a cruiseship into the ocean. Having somehow gotten in the way of her husband's plan, Joey Perrone finds herself thrown overboard in a pretty callous attempt at her life and as she hits the waves, she's not sure how she will manage to survive for long enough to swim ashore. With the help of fury, swim training and a bale of pot from Jamaica, she clings to life and finds herself being rescued by illegal drugs and a gruff lonesome ex-cop living a life of solitude on a small island off the Florida coast.

Although furious with Chaz for his deceit, Joey is in no way ready to go to the police, instead she wants to take revenge. No turning the cheek for this scorned woman who enrolls her rescuer, Mick, to help her get back at Chaz. She's not out to kill him, just drive him crazy enough to get him to admit exactly why he wanted her dead. 

"Skinny Dip" is a hilarious story of an avenging angel (Joey) who armed with a gold AmEx, Italian shoes and with a somewhat reluctant but very competent companion in tow (Mick) sets out to destroy the life of her hopeless husband. 

This is my second Hiaasen novel and it was even funnier than my first ("Star Island", reviewed earlier this month) and the strength is in the characters: 

Joey is the American dream, the girl next door. She has inherited a vast fortune but has earmarked it for charity and her only extravagance is a bit of clothes and Italian shoes. She's a clever, capable, big hearted and a little naive blonde who is hard not to love. Somehow she reminded me of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse - one of those girls that you would love to hang out with. 

Mick is a real man and a real loner. Not in touch with his feelings in any way whatsoever, he has several failed marriages behind him and prefers the company of his dog. 

Chaz is ... indescribably annoying. A biologist with no respect for nature at all, he will happily sell his soul, his wife and his dignity for money. He is an inexcusable playboy who is guided by his genitals in all matters where he is not guided by money. Yes, there is very little to recommend him apart from his good looks and he his the perfect (if somewhat dumb) villain. 

It is these three characters, along with a range of minor characters, that makes "Skinny Dip" work. That and the many plot twists and these characters will have you laughing out loud and maybe read half the night (like I did) because it simply is a hoot. 

You don't mess with Mr. Darcy - "Death Comes to Pemberley" by P. D. James

Any book that puts the word "Pemberley" in the title is setting itself up for scrutiny because there are a lot of girls out there (myself included) to who Pemberley is pretty much sacred. You don't mess with Mr. Darcy. Nobody puts Lizzy in a corner. So a crime fiction novel featuring Mr. and Mrs. Darcy better not pollute the shades of Pemberley as Lady Catherine de Bourgh would say. 

"Death Comes to Pemberley" by P. D. James has a lot going for it. It is written by a capable author with a long career and plenty of successful novels to her name and it is true to the style and ways of Jane Austen. 

The plot is very different, however, from the Jane Austen novels as it is resolutely a crime fiction novel.     It is the night before a big ball at Pemberley and the Darcys and their closest friends are enjoying a peaceful night before the partying when a carriage comes hurrying towards the house at such a great speed that it almost topples over. It stops in front of the house and out of the carriage comes a hysterical,  screaming Lydia, Mrs. Darcy's fateful younger sister who ran off with the scoundrel Wickham. 

A murder has been committed in the forest next to Pemberley and all evidence points to Wickham being the murderer. To the proud Mr. Darcy this is a terribly difficult situation - by marriage, he is Wickham's brother and he has to put all of his hatred of the man to the side and do his best to keep him from the gallows. 

The strength of this book is the writing and the low-key plot line which keeps it as close as possible to Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" but at the same time this somehow is also the weakness. Because it stays very close to the original, it doesn't really take anything further. There is no elaborating on the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, between Jane and Mr. Bingley, between Elizabeth and Jane and their less fortunate sisters, so reading it as a sequel to "Pride and Prejudice" doesn't work. 

For me, any book that features the beloved characters from that novel have to put the focus on them and their stories and this one doesn't, it is all about the whodunnit and the trial. Verdict from me is that as a historical crime, it works really well but as a part of the "Pride and Prejudice" fanfiction, it's no good. 

"The Odessa File" by Frederick Forsyth

Have you heard of Simon Wiesenthal? If not you seriously need to google him pretty much right now. He was a very special, very cool man who dedicated his life to chasing nazis who had actively participated in the atrocities during WWII. In his quest to bring these criminals (I'm really wanting to write a much less diplomatic word) to justice, he had to give up a lot of things that most people would be reluctant to and his work paid off and some of the most disgusting nazis were made to pay for their crimes.
Simon Wiesenthal is one of the inspirations for "The Odessa File" by Frederick Forsyth, a 1972 novel, which tells the story of a young freelance reporter who finds himself getting tangled up in the chase of a  
man who lead a concentration camp in Riga. Although the Peter Miller lives a disorganized life of reporting and relaxing with his gorgeous girlfriend, the eh... showdancer... Sigrid. When he comes across the diary of an old man who has killed himself, he first regards it as nothing more than an interesting story. But the more he researches and learns about the story, the more it starts to affect him. It is a gruesome tale of a Jewish man who experiences the worst of nightmares under the nazi regime and Peter Miller decides that he must chase down the responsible commander and find out if he is still alive. And if he is alive, he wants revenge or justice or at least to make this beast face his past.

As crime fiction goes, this one is pretty good. At least in my opinion. As historical fiction maybe not so much... But it works for what it is. The only thing that really got to me was the ending, I would have written that differently. But that might just be me. It is a popular book that has sold a lot so it might be that I'm just being difficult... All in all a bit of a meh read for me, should probably have read a Wiesenthal biography instead.

The Two Sides of Italy

As I've mentioned before (but will mention again because I'm literally counting down the days), I will very soon be off for a week or so in Italy. London seems to have forgotten what summer is about and instead of sun, we've had rain, rain, rain, rain. So lazy days of sunshine and pasta sounds heavenly to me and I can't wait to go. I've been preparing by reading non-fiction books about Italy and today I'll share my opinions of two of these with you - they each give an honest account of life in Italy but oh what different lives they tell of. 

"Extra Virgin" by Annie Hawes
This is the most wonderfully life-affirming story of two young British women, who are fed up by the London weather and price levels (oh do I know that feeling!) and flee to Italy for a summer of rose-pruning. In the small, traditional village of Diano San Pietro, Annie falls in love head over heels in a small hovel of a house that she and her sister buys on a whim. In the following years, they live part-time in the Ligurian mountains (to enjoy life) and part-time in London (to make money enough to enjoy life) and "Extra Virgin" is the story of how two very British women who know nothing about olives (the horror!!) learn to adapt to the Italian way of life where every piece of string or wood can be fashioned into furniture and where food is something that you forage for in the mountains and turn into feasts. 
The worst thing about this book is that it left me perpetually hungry for proper Italian food. Go away Pizza Express, I want a proper meal of antipasti, primo, secondo and homemade wine. 
It is a fantastic non-fiction book because Annie conjures up the characters with such vividness that they leap off the pages. It is a book about people and about the Italian spirit and it is absolutely gorgeous. This is la dolce vita sprinkled with village feuds and a dash of fresh olive oil. 

"Gomorrah" by Roberto Saviano
Have you been to Napoli? We went there a few years ago on a daytrip and I wasn't impressed. Everything was dirty and people were less than welcoming. It was a different Italy to the one I knew - which is mainly Liguria, Umbria, Piemonte, Tuscany and Rome. This was crime capital in a way that I hadn't imagined. At all. 
So when I started reading "Gomorrah", I had a clear picture of Napoli in my mind but it was nowhere near as horrible as the picture painted in this book. It's divided into sections focusing on the different types of crime happening in Napoli and spreading not only across Italy but across Europe and the world, like rings in water. There is the smuggling from China, the workers in small, factories in Napoli sewing designer clothes that end up as far away as the Academy Awards red carpet in Hollywood. There is the drug cartels, supplying Italy with cheap heroin and testing the drugs on volunteers who'll do anything for a free fix, even die. The toxic waste dumping and the mountains of landfill waste. And then there's the violence. Everyone in Napoli might not be involved with mafia-like gangs but everyone is a potential victim in their wars. 
It is not a happy read, it won't make you feel good. It will probably make you feel worried, even scared. But it is an important book because it deals with a topic that no one wants to touch out of fear for repercussions. When I closed it, having read the last page, I admired Saviano that he had the courage to write this book and hope that it will inspire others to do the same. 

Review: "Mercy"

Rarely do I review a book that I didn't enjoy which is mostly because I tend to not finish books that I don't enjoy. Call it lazy, call it silly and ignorant - I can't help it. If I don't enjoy a book, I find it intolerable having to force myself to read it. Not an option. There are exceptions though and this is one of them. "Mercy" by Jussi Adler-Olsen is the first books in a series and I for some unapparent reason started with number four, then number three, then number two and then the first. Strange way of doing it which I don't particularly recommend. Anyway back to topic. I had enjoyed the other three, especially the second one and I thought that I would give this one a go.

The context of the story is one that you have heard many times before... the main character is a policeman who is very very good at his work but who has trouble working with others. His boss is somewhat understanding of this and lets him go and do more or less his own thing on his own. In this case, said policeman, Carl Morck is not entirely on his own, with him he has his cleaner, Assad, who happens to have real talent for policework. Coincidence.
Together these two strange characters get involved with a case of a young, successful, female politician who went missing years ago. And meanwhile the point-of-view shifts from Carl to this young woman, who has been captured and imprisoned in strange room with no windows, no contact to the outside world, while her captors demand that she explain why she did what she did - while she keeps asking why she is there.

So far, so good. This is a pretty run-of-mill crime fiction piece if you ask me. It really didn't impress me. Too predictable and too unimaginative but let me be more specific:

Five things I liked about "Mercy":
1) The dry humour of Carl Morck is pretty great, saves the book actually.
2) The Assad character is quite loveable.
3) The imprisonment part is imaginative and different if really disgusting.
4) Carl Morck's stepson figures a bit in this book and more in the next ones and I have to admit that these descriptions of the sullenness and mood swings of a teenage boy are pretty spot on and funny.
5) ... can't think if one....


Five things I disliked about "Mercy":
1) The title. The original title translates "The Woman in the Cage" which you have to admit is about a 100 times more interesting than "Mercy".
2) The character of the female politician is beyond predictable. She is pretty, she is compassionate, she has nice suitors whom she rejects to dedicate her life to worthier things, she has all the right opinions.... Honestly, it is just too much.
3) The villains are never really explored or explained. In some of Adler-Olsen's later works, he does a much better job of exploring the motives, making it much more interesting to read.
4) The predictability of Carl Morck, the essential renegade policeman. Why are there no crime fiction books about policeman who do things by the book and succeed? It seems like they all have to be rebellious and anti-social, I would like a bit of change please.
5) The political remarks here and there. They are so misplaced and have nothing to do with the story. They end up being really annoying side-remarks that break up the story and promotes the author's political opinions without adding to the story.

So there you go. If you like Scandinavian crime fiction maybe this one is for you. My advice would be to let this one go and head straight for the next book in the series.

Review: "The Monster of Florence"

Another book with a lame title... Sorry to authors Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi but this title (even though it is very describing and fits the subject well) is just not good... It hints at something sordid, it is a tabloid title. The headline of one of those newspapers that you'd never read in the bus for fear of being seen with it... You know what I mean?

This book, "The Monster of Florence", deserves a better title because it is very far from the tabloid style. In order to explain, let me first give you a quick summary of the plot of this non-fiction tale where truth is so strange that it has inspired the novel (and movie) Hannibal by Thomas Harris.
The case of the monster of Florence takes its beginning in Florence (obviously...) in the 1970's and 1980's where a serial killer targets young couples making love in cars in the hills around the beautiful renaissance city. The crimes are ruthless and barbaric, the victims young and the motives unclear. And the murderer turns out to hide his tracks very very well.
Mario Spezi is the journalist who becomes known as the monstrologer, the man who follows the case and investigation closely and who knows as much if not more about the case than the police. In 2000 the case is still unsolved as thriller author Douglas Preston moves to Florence to write a novel about something completely different but ends up becoming fascinated with the monster and friends with Mario Spezi.



As the police struggles to explain the unsolved case and as the possible theories become more and more impossible and unreal, Preston and Spezi get dragged further and further into the investigation until one day, they are under suspiscion.

You shouldn't read this book if you main interest is the gory details of the murder because that is not what this book is about. This is a book about the importance of the freedom of the press and about the power of false accusations. As the people of Florence become more and more scared, they also begin to suspect each other of being the monster and innocent lives are ruined by false accusations. The authors cling to the importance of the principle of innocent until proven guilty and sometimes they seem to be the only sane persons in the entire city...
The most scary part of this book is not the murders though they are gruesome, it is the fact that the police are seemingly willing to ignore all facts if they can get someone, anyone, convicted as the monster of Florence.

Read this if: you liked "The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher" by Kate Summerscale