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brief overview of Massimo Carlotto's full-length novels
so far. |
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Il fuggiasco (1995), Carlotto's first book,
based on his own experiences in prison and on the run. This
won the Premio del Giovedi prize. |
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Le irregolari (1996), this is an extended
piece of novelised reportage about Argentinian desaparecidos
and the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo movement. It won the Premio
Dessi prize. |
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La verità dell'alligatore (1997):
this was the first of Carlotto's 'Alligator' series of crime
novels, introducing the principal character Marco Buratti
(aka Alligator) a former blues singer and prisoner, now an
unlicensed detective with an obsession for the truth and a
taste for calvados. |
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- Il mistero di Mangiabarche (1998): the
second 'Alligator' novel, set in Sardinia and (briefly) Corsica,
adding corrupt Nato highups, supergrasses and political subversives
to the mix. |
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- Nessuna cortesia all'uscita (1999): the
third novel of the 'Alligator' series, examining the clash
between organized crime outfits of the old school and the
latest trends in criminal enterprise, behaviour and mores.
It was awarded the Premio Dessi prize in 1999.
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The Columbian Mule
(Italy 2001 - U.k 2003): the
Alligator's investigations lead from Colombian drug racketeers
deep into the local Italian police and judiciary. Il corriere
colombiano has been translated into English by Christopher
Woodall and was published by Orion in December 2003 as The
Colombian Mule. |
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The Master of Knots
(Italy 2002 - U.K. 2004): the
fifth novel in the Alligator series, set against the backdrop
of the anti-globalisation demonstrations and violent police
reactions surrounding the Genoa G8 summit last year, takes
Alligator and his associates into the murky world of S&M.
Il maestro di nodi has been translated into English by Christopher
Woodall and was published by Orion in December 2004 as The
Master of Knots. |
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THE GOODBYE KISS
(Italy 2003 - U.S.A 2005):
told in the first person, the protagonist of this novel is
a former left-wing extra-parliamentary militant who returns
from hiding in South America, determined to become an 'upstanding
respectable citizen' and willing to use any means necessary
to accomplish that. The novel is based on the criminal careers
of several people that Carlotto met during his years of exile. |
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DEATH'S DARK ABYSS
(italy 2004 - U.S.A coming soon, october 2006):
another non-Alligator noir, marking a departure in Carlotto's
writing. In 1st-person narrated chapters alternating between
the two main protagonists -- on the one hand the jailed perpetrator
of a bank robbery that went wrong leaving a woman passer-by
and her young son dead and, on the other, the woman's surviving
husband - Carlotto weaves a powerful story that examines issues
of retribution, revenge and mercy. |
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