“Carlotto is the reigning king of Mediterranean noir.” —The Boston Phoenix

An unscrupulous womanizer, as devoid of morals as he once was full of idealistic fervor, returns to Italy where he is wanted for a series of political crimes. To avoid prison he sells out his old friends, turns his back on his former ideals, and cuts deals with crooked cops. To achieve the guise of respectability he is willing to go even further, maybe even as far as murder.

Massimo Carlotto
Massimo Carlotto was born in Padua, Italy. In addition to the many titles in his extremely popular “Alligator” series, he is also the author of The Fugitive, Death’s Dark Abyss, Poisonville, Bandit Love, and At the End of a Dull Day. One of Italy’s most popular authors and a major exponent of the Mediterranean Noir novel, Carlotto has been compared with many of the most important American hardboiled crime writers.

• Nov 20 2006
  Euro Crime: "Pellegrini will stay in your head long after the book is closed. Carlotto's Italy is a corrupt place far removed from that of any tourist brochure."
  
• Apr 27 2006
  Boston Pheonix: "The “Mediterranean noir” novel [...] acts as a lens, trained on European political and social structures."
  
• Mar 23 2006
  Mystery File: "You know you're in the hands of a truly unscrupulous narrator when a priest meeting him for the first time says, 'You're a bad egg. As bad as they come.'"
  
• Mar 4 2006
  Globe & Mail: "There isn't a scintilla of innocence in this masterpiece of Italian noir. Carlotto is a former political fugitive who spent time in a Mexican prison and served seven years in Italy. His version of hardboiled crime is criminal all the way."
  
• Jan 31 2006
  Chicago Tribune: "Mystery Novelist follows the maxim to write what you know ... Massimo Carlotto has a history as riveting as any novel."