Massimo Carlotto (All reviews)
- Feb 17 2020
February's Best International Crime Fiction
— Crime Reads - Feb 17 2020
Star Pick
— The Times Crime Club - Feb 14 2020
Blues for Outlaw Hearts and Old Whores by Massimo Carlotto
— NB Magazine - Jan 8 2020
Globetrotting
— The New York Times - Aug 28 2016
Massimo Carlotto–FOR ALL THE GOLD IN THE WORLD
— SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH BOOKS - Jul 7 2016
For All the Gold in the World
— Complete Review - May 31 2016
Book
— i-Italy - Jan 11 2016
Book Review: "The Master of Knots," by Massimo Carlotto
— Echoes of an Empty Mind - Nov 30 2015
Review of At the End of a Dull Day by Massimo Carlotto
— Ed Gorman's Blog - Aug 6 2015
“His determined narrators have strong, sharp voices and the action -- especially scene by scene -- is reasonably interesting (though as usual for Carlotto the callous violence and gore is piled on pretty thick).”
— The Complete Review - Aug 1 2015
“Gang of Lovers is a raucous, delicious ride.”
— The Cedar Rapids Gazette - Jul 14 2015
"Which Drug Cartel Book Is Right for You?"
— Esquire - Jul 1 2015
"… a shaded caper and an earnest investigation into the nature of evil that reads like a runaway train, and confirms Carlotto as equal to any of the English-writing czars of noir."
— Lovereading.co.uk - Jun 29 2015
6 Great Italian Authors to Discover: GANG OF LOVERS - May 4 2014
CRIMEPIECES: The Best of April's Reading - Apr 15 2014
CRIMEPIECES: "Completely compelling... sit back and enjoy the stark brutality of Carlotto’s writing." - Jan 21 2014
Kirkus: "the author shows a sure grasp of the double lives of BDSM devotees for whom unmasking would mean calamity." - Dec 31 2013
Crime Fiction Lover: Marina Sofia chooses At the End of a Dull Day as her standout book of 2013 - Nov 4 2013
The Library Journal: "Hard stuff but good." - Sep 20 2013
Raven Crime Reads: "This is Italian hardboiled noir at its best." - Aug 20 2013
New York Times Magazine blog: "This novel...completely hijacked my attention." - Jun 10 2013
The New Yorker: "Carlotto's taut, broody Mediterranean noir is filled with blind corners and savage set pieces." - Jun 7 2013
Crime Fiction Lover: "ominous and wry, lively and brooding..." - May 6 2013
Publishers Weekly: "[Carlotto's] narration allows gruesome glimpses into an unscrupulous psyche." - Apr 15 2013
The Complete Review: "A very solid noir thriller, and very good...fun" - Mar 31 2013
Kirkus Reviews: "Carlotto...provides a machine-gun pace, a jaundiced eye for political corruption and a refreshing absence of anything approaching a moral vision." - Nov 18 2010
The Austin Chronicle: "Some crime novels are really books about the workplace, and they pay meticulous attention to how a criminal does his job. This is not such a book...Carlotto has a bigger agenda and more expansive concerns." - Nov 13 2010
The Daily Beast: "Packs plenty of plot into a slim volume, with space set aside for elaborate northeast Italian meals, musings on women, and plenty of Calvados drinking." - Oct 1 2010
Kirkus Reviews: "Top-notch Mediterranean noir." - Sep 13 2010
The Complete Review: "Full of noir swagger." - Aug 23 2010
Publishers Weekly: "A lean, taut crime novel." - Jan 25 2010
The Critical Flame: "A high-society noir about murder, globalization and “ecomafia” crimes in Italy" - Dec 15 2009
International Noir: "A fascinating portrait of contemporary Italy, and further evidence of the multifaceted skills of Carlotto." - Dec 12 2009
The Globe and Mail: "A noir with a vengeance." - Oct 28 2009
Time Out Chicago: "The misdeeds of the elite are traceable, investigated and almost always associated with crimes." - Sep 24 2009
The Austin Chronicle: "The book certainly parallels the American pulp/noir tradition with Carlotto being among the leaders of Europe's vibrant school of Mediterranean noir..." - Sep 1 2009
Publishers Weekly (starred review): "Northeast Italy’s industrial pollution provides the backdrop for Carlotto (The Goodbye Kiss) and screenwriter Videtta’s outstanding fable of greed, corruption and moral abandonment." - Dec 17 2007
Time Literary Supplement: "Carlotto gives a wry, offhand account of his own experiences of officially condoned brutality, of fear and uncertainty, but the tone throughout is surprisingly free of rancour or recrimination." - Apr 24 2007
L Magazine: "[The Fugitive] intrigues for its author's chrysallic but unmistakable persona." - Apr 23 2007
The Washington Post: "...a memoir of the two years he spent on the lam in Europa and Mexico, the identities he took on, how he was betrayed by a Mexican lawyer—in short, 'the daily life, the behavior, and the routine of someone who is one the run.'" - Mar 20 2007
The New York Times: "Massimo Carlotto['s]...raw stories about Italian criminals in unhealthy political climates are about as gritty as they come and [his] fictional account of his own experiences running from a murder charge ... has just been released." - Mar 7 2007
Kirkus Reviews: "A powerfully dreamlike evocation of life on the lam." - Feb 12 2007
Booklist: "It’s a gripping tale, whether read as a novel or as a memoir." - Dec 7 2006
Library Journal (starred review): "the master of Mediterranean noir, has fashioned a dark, twisted tale of retribution." - 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." - Oct 20 2006
Rocky Mountain News: "Read this book. At the least, it will make you wiser. At most, it twill make you more humane." - Oct 17 2006
The Washington Post: "A raw, extremely dark portrait of a crime and its aftermath." - Sep 12 2006
Kirkus (starred review): "Beneath the conventions of Continental noir is a remarkable study of corruption and redemption in a world where revenge is best served ice-cold." - Sep 4 2006
The Complete Review: "Dark and, in part, extremely brutal stuff, but an interesting game of taking action and responsibility, of being able to -- and not being able to -- forgive and make sacrifices." - Aug 11 2006
Publishers Weekly: "Carlotto [...] who served time for a murder he didn't commit before becoming a writer, has crafted a subtle and disturbing tale of the effects of violence on its survivors." - Aug 3 2006
Today in Italy: an artcle by Massimo Carlotto on the uses and abuses of Noir - 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." - Jan 22 2006
The New York Times: "The Italy of Massimo Carlotto is a different world entirely, a dangerous setting for serious crimes committed by cruel men like Giorgio Pellegrini, the amoral protagonist of THE GOODBYE KISS." - Jan 16 2006
Booklist: "Perhaps the most difficult kind of noir novel to pull off is 'the crime tale narrated by a bad guy' [...] Europeans manage this trick much better than Americans, as Carlotto demonstrates here." - Dec 6 2005
The Complete Review: "From the first page, Giorgio is presented as someone willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. No more revolutions for him, just self-interest." - Nov 17 2005
Kirkus Reviews: "A nasty, explosive little tome warmly recommended to fans of James M. Cain for its casually brutal amorality and truly astonishing speed."