Douglas Preston & Mario Spezi, The Monster of Florence

My parents' neighbor brought this over while I was studying for my exams this summer. He thought I might be interested in the subject matter, having lived in Florence for six months. I was interested, and ended up reading the book in about three days, taking guilty little breaks from my exam studying.

Preston, who is a crime novelist, brings an unmistakable drama to this already almost improbably dramatic, but nonetheless true, story. I had never heard of the Monster of Florence (although I'd read two reviews of the book before the neighbor brought it over), and was stunned to encounter the tale. The police investigation of the crimes proves to be as riveting--and alarming--a story as the murders themselves. A very quick, very easy and entertaining, if rather macabre, read.