- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Arrow; New edition edition (4 July 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099415356
- ISBN-13: 978-0099415350
- Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 13 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,242,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Dry heat has its own exhaustion, its own madness; the visiting academics in James Sturz's Sasso were always going to be outsiders in the closed-in South Italian society of Mancanzano, but the logic of events and the climate leads them to terrible conclusions. Mancanzano is a town whose inhabitants used to live in caves in the volcanic rock that surrounds it, and still use powdered rock to cool off or stave off hunger. A series of dead teenage couples are found intertwined in caves with frescoes painted onto the crumbling rock, with paint crammed into their dead mouths; the frescoes themselves, as they are progressively revealed, become more and more sinister. The unnamed narrator and his colleagues drift into ever more dangerous emotional entanglements with each other and the townsfolk around them, and the authorities flail around looking for explanations in more and more lunatic intellectual byways, and for scapegoats... This deeply atmospheric thriller takes place in the glare of the brightest sunlight, yet its heart is as gloomy as the darkest kind of noir fiction. There is a passionate doominess to every step along the way here as well as a constant wild comedy--Sasso is an impressive and original thriller. --Roz Kaveney
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
'A thriller pulsating with menace and sensuality - wonderful' Arena
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Sasso is one of the strangest and most interesting books I've read in a long while. It's part thriller, part murder mystery, part love story, part anthropological study of the closed-in world of southern Italy - and then it's not any of those, either. What Sasso is is an astonishing tale of the deepest dark spaces inside of us all. The ones that will always be 'unfathomable'. I found Sasso funny, dark, thrilling, full of textures, atmosphere and sweltering heat. The book keeps catching my attention, as much it catches my breath.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
What an extraordinary book! From the blurb I was expecting a straightforward Italian murder mystery, but Sasso is so much more than that. James Sturz is an astonishing writer, and his ability to pull the reader into the vivid, peculiar world of Mancanzano makes this book incredibly compelling. As the weather gets hotter and hotter, and events in the town get weirder and weirder, Sasso turns into one of the most unforgettable, evocative novels I've ever read. I can't believe this is a first novel - and can't wait to see what James Sturz writes next.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book literally took my breath away. The descriptions are so visceral that I entered the world of Sasso and did not want to come out of it. This, to me, is the sign of a successful book. Sturz's brilliant plot moves you through mystery and wonder, sex and desire, to a terrifying conclusion. I see a film! I URGE everyone to read Sasso.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
great read
I read this book 4 years ago, and I am still waiting for the next novel from Sturz. I think its a great book with a few unusual twists. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2006
pretentious and preposterous
This is probably the most pretentious book I have read this year. It starts off quite well; atmospheric and intriguing, but then it goes absolutely nowhere. Read more
Published on 25 Sep 2001
An Unexpected Novel
The cover lines on Sasso do not prepare you for the journey the author mapped out for his readers. Like the characters in this novel, I also fell prey to the winding ways of... Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2001
Couldn't wait to put it down...
The blurb on the back cover outlines the start of the plot. It sounded pretty good. But by page 50 of 305, the plot hadn't really moved on. Read more
Published on 7 Aug 2001
The most original novel I have read in years
What an impressive debut! This novel is clearly well researched, historically accurate and elegantly written. Read more
Published on 6 July 2001
Interesting Sexual Thriller
Our book club found Sasso to be an interesting perspective on a perverse Italian town. The author cleverly had the narrator writing diary letters to his fiance back in NY while we... Read more
Published on 4 July 2001
Unable to finish this dismal book
I bought this book because the blurb made it sound intriguing. Indeed, the start seems to promise the same: the murders seem unfathomable, and one hopes for details of the... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2001
Buy this book now!
Sasso is one of the most well written, captivating and intriguing books I've read in ages. The prose is beautiful. The story is fascinating and completely unpredictable. Read more
Published on 11 May 2001
beautiful prose plus intriguing plot make Sasso a great book
Sasso is an excellent read. Sturz writes with a sure hand in masterfully building the suspense in this murder mystery. Read more
Published on 7 May 2001
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