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Guardian
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Almost Blue, Carlo Lucarelli,
By
This review is from: Almost Blue (Paperback)
I was surprised to find this on the CWA Gold Dagger shortlist last year, having never previously heard of Lucarelli. He's an author with many strings to his bow: Not only does he write very sucessful Italian noir crime novels, but he hosts a late-night TV show that focuses on unsolved crimes (think an Italian Nick Ross, if that's not too weird), edits an online magazine, teaches writing in Turin, and sings in a punk rock band. As I say, I was surprised, but having read it now, I'm not at all, because this is an absolutely excellent crime novel. Let me start by saying, I love short books, and this is definitely one of them, at only about 170 pages. Short books can be read quickly, and can provide the same payoff as reading a novel, if done absolutely right. And this one is. Novels like this that condense plots that other authors would use hundreds of pages for into a mere 170, show just how much superfluity is packed into many novels. Because Almost Blue is none less rewarding, and is practically stuffed with plot. The result is a quick, immediately engaging read. As The Guardian blurb on the cover says, this is a "compact and powerful masterpiece". It's darn original, too. Set in Bologna, it's a dark serial killer story. On the trail is Inspectore Grazia Negro, who's an officer in a new task-force that's just been set-up, and is rather just finding its feet and its confidence. Simone is blind, and lives in a room at the top of his mother's house. All day, he listens to his record player in between bouts of tuning into a radio scanner that picks up the voices of people all across the city. This is hobby. Listening to Bologna's inhabitants, imagining them as they go about their lives and, frequently, their illicit loves. One day, though, Simone is terrified when he tunes into the killer. As I say, it's a completely original book. (Oonagh Stransky's excellent, fluent translation shouldn't go without a mention, either. Nor should Lucarelli's absolutely remarkable descriptions of sound, which Simone is of course so attuned to.) Almost Blue is an excellent English-language debut from a talented crime writer. Short, sharp, and very thrilling. I look forward to more. Definitely.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Almost gripping,
By A Customer
This review is from: Almost Blue (Hardcover)
I don't know whether it was my expectation of the book or the book itself that left me unsatisfied. It felt like an overlong short story rather than a novel, with characters under-developed and two dimensional. At the same time, I found myself wanting to know more about them. The mix of different narrators was irritating rather helpful, but I don't see how the story could have worked without using the device. Although I wouldn't rush to buy another one by this author, I would be interested in borrowing one to see if the detective (this is apparently a series featuring the same woman) 'grows' both on me and in terms of depth of character.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bodies in Bologna,
By Annabel Gaskell "gaskella2" (Nr Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Almost Blue (Paperback)
Lucarelli is apparently an established author of over a dozen books, and a TV presenter to boot, but this is the first of his detective novels to get translated into English.
Ispettore Grazia Negro is part of a new group within the Italian constabulary set up to investigate serial murders. Several students have been brutally murdered in Bologna, and they appear to be linked. Grazia and her boss Vittorio Poletto have arrived from Rome to take over the case. Being a relative rookie, and female she has a hard job convincing the locals - until she shows the last photo. Simone is blind. He spends his life in his attic room where he scans the airwaves and listens to jazzman Chet Baker, whose version of Elvis Costello's Almost Blue is his favourite track. Simone `sees' voices in colour, and one day he hears the killer's `green' voice. Grazia and Simone together can catch him - but at great personal risk - will they get there in time? At just 168 pages of `Italian noir' the plot clips along at a fast pace. It's original and expertly zips between Grazia and the police, Simone and the killer. There is also plenty of blood - indeed we're thrown into it on the very first page, and it doesn't let up. In the three main characters, the murderer is truly monstrous, Simone is a revelation, and Grazia is feisty and likeable. Of course as a woman detective, she has to prove herself by being working harder than all the men - sadly it seems 'twas ever thus, (I could have done without the author making her pre-menstrual too though!) The fast pace and low page toll mean that more words have to count, and this this was an enjoyable read for the most part; would that more books embraced the less is more philosophy. I would happily read more by this author, especially if Grazia is allowed to develop. (7/10)
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