Maybe nonfiction's not his thang.

This has been a real stinker week for nonfiction.  Either I've just had a run of reading bad luck or I'm getting pickier.  Hard to tell.

So what do you do when a book that has been advertised as a "page-turner" fails to make you want to turn the pages?  This has been the case throughout Douglas Preston's and Mario Spezi's true crime thriller about serial murders in the Italian city of Florence, The Monster of Florence.  Yes, I'm on page 116, but it's been a struggle to get there, and I'm about five pages away from skipping to the end and reading the last couple of chapters. 

So what's the problem?  Sure, it's a true crime book, but I've read a lot of true crime and find most of it interesting (I'll admit, it doesn't feel quite right to type, "I enjoy true crime").  The story is certainly salacious enough: from 1968 through the mid-1980s, there were a rash of killings around Florence wherein the killer(s) hunted young couples, passing the time amorously, who were parked in country lanes.  The killer then shot the couples, and removed "trophies" from the female victims after they were dead.

The writing's not terrible, with Preston relating the history of the investigation with the aid of Spezi, who was the longtime crime reporter who wrote about the case from the beginning.  There's also plenty of history and cultural information, not only about Florence but also about the island of Sardinia.  And it's got a beautiful, beautiful cover.  I fully expected this to be a fascinating book based on the cover alone. 

So what's the problem?

Preston is, of course, better known as the author of fiction thrillers, particularly those he co-wrote with Lincoln Child, starting with Relic and Reliquary.  Perhaps I should try those instead.  Maybe I'm just harboring a secret antipathy toward a novelist-turned-nonfiction-writer? (I don't think so; I am aware that Preston has written other nonfiction.) One thing I'm not enjoying is the three- to five-page chapters in this book, which I'm sure were set up to increase the "thriller" feel, but are just making it feel choppier; I'll have to double-check some true crime titles, but I don't think they're particularly known for such short chapters.

In short?  It's a book that fails.  If you want to read a book about Italy (Venice, in particular), read John Berendt's The City of Falling Angels.  If you want to read some true crime about a long-running investigation, read Ann Rule's Green River, Running Red.  Life's too short to read page-turners that aren't all that page-turney.

Comments

[Sarah]

OR, if you want to read fiction, try some by Donna Leon (Venice) or Michael Dibdin (various Italian cities). Much more elegant prose, and definitely not choppy.

[Tripp]

This saddens me as I quite wanted to read this. Oh well.

Relic is quite good, Reliquary is so so, and the follow on Pendergast books get pretty preposterous, if still fun. Try Relic, but skip the movie.

I think their best is the Ice Limit, which has one of my favorite endings in all of thrillerdom. Others must have disagreed as they posted deleted final scenes on the website.

[Citizen Reader]

Sarah,
I've been meaning to try Donna Leon for ages. Thanks for the reminder.

Tripp,
No, no, you still have to read it and tell me what you think. I may be way, way off. If nothing else, the short chapters do make it a fast read. I've been meaning to read Relic for years (add it to the list with Donna Leon), so I better get busy on some fiction!

[Sarah]

OK, so Donna Leon supports "Il Complesso Barocco", an Italian chamber orchestra, and they have made recordings of Handel operas with Joyce Didonato, and she sang "Ariodante" last year, and that's the opera I saw in San Francisco. How many degrees is that?

[Adam Wilson]

Hi there,

I was pointed to your blog from someone on Library Thing. I really like it! I have subscribed to the feed as well.

I also have a non-fiction book review blog called Letters On Pages. I encourage everyone to come check it out at www.lettersonpages.com!

Thanks!
Adam

[Citizen Reader]

Adam,
Thank you! Always glad to hear about a new nonfiction blog. Stay strong out there -- it's tough in this old fiction world.