L'impagliatore

By Luca Di Fulvio

Book Overview

"Di Fulvio exposes souls with the skills of a surgeon. It's like turning the pages of something forbidden--seductive, elegant and dangerous."--Alan Rickman "A wonderful first novel that will seduce the fans of deranged murderers in the style of Hannibal Lecter. And beautifully written to boot."-- RTL "A novel that caresses and kisses in order to violate the reader with greater ease."-- Rolling Stone "A powerful psycho-thriller of spine-shivering intensity. Written with immense intelligence and passionate menace. Not to be read alone at night."-- The Times "Know why she's smiling?" he asked, pointing a small torch at the corpse. "Fish hooks. Two fish hooks at the corners of her mouth, a bit of nylon, pull it round the back of the head and tie a knot. Pretty straightforward, right?" Amaldi noticed the metallic glint at the corners of the taut mouth. Inspector Amaldi has enough problems: a city choked by a pestilent rubbish strike, a beautiful student harassed by a telephone stalker, a colleague dying of cancer, and the mysterious disappearance of arson files concerning the city's orphanage. Then the mutilated bodies begin to appear. This novel of violence and decay, with its vividly portrayed characters, takes place over a few oppressive weeks in an unnamed Italian city that strongly evokes Genoa. A finalist for the European Crime Writing Prize.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1904738133
• ISBN13: 9781904738138
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.1" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

excellent Italian serial killer thriller

In Italy, his passion is taxidermy. He accomplishes his craft in two clever steps. First he captures his prey and then he completes the conversion. Both stages provide his sadistic tendencies with euphoria as he appreciates the kill as much if not more so than the transformation. Still he remains ever diligent and careful not to make any mistakes especially since some of his subjects are human though he leaves behind mutilated corpses using taxidermist threads to complete his trophy. Chief Inspector Giacomo Amaldi knows he is dealing with a brilliant serial killer at a time when he already feels overwhelmed. The garbage strike has turned the city into a big dump, making all investigations smell worse than usual while a questionable fire at the nearby orphanage should be tying up his time. Instead he walks amongst the trash seeking clues to a deadly killer one stitch at a time. THE MANNEQUIN MAN is an excellent Italian serial killer thriller that uses satirical symbolism to delineate the human condition. Amaldi is a fascinating character as he wades through garbage in search of clues that will enable him to identify the killing taxidermist while his adversary is brilliant at both of his crafts. Police procedural fans will want to follow the Chief Inspector as he struggles to separate the trash from the clues. Harriet Klausner