When Colombian Arias Cuevas is caught trying to smuggle drugs through Venice airport, his fear isn't fuelled by the idea of prison. He's much more frightened of his aunt—it was her coke he took off with. The cops set up a sting to find out who was to be the recipient of the drugs, and art smuggler Nazzareno Corradi falls straight into the trap. But he's been set up. His lawyer hires "the Alligator," and his fixer, Max, to find out what's going on. Soon it becomes apparent why Cuevas was so afraid—the aunt, La Tia, has left a bloody trail in her wake, is now looking to do some business in Italy, and she's not about to let anybody get in her way.

The Colombian Mule

Literature & Fiction

Carlotto, Massimo

Classics

Orion Publishing

Alligator—ex-convict turned private detective—finds himself pulled into a disturbing case involving an Italy known to few. Helena and Mariano Giraldi lead a secret double life in Italy's clandestine S&amp;M scene. When Helena is abducted, her husband approaches Alligator for help. But Mariano seems more worried about losing his reputation than seeing his wife again. As Alligator investigates, he uncovers a world in which brutality, treachery, and passion go hand in hand. Behind Helena's abduction is a shadowy figure known as The Master of Knots—who proves to be as powerful as he is psychotic. As more members of the S&amp;M underground disappear, Alligator races desperately against time to find his true identity.

The Master of Knots

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Alligator—ex-convict turned private detective—finds himself pulled into a disturbing case involving an Italy known to few. Helena and Mariano Giraldi lead a secret double life in Italy's clandestine S&M scene. When Helena is abducted, her husband approaches Alligator for help. But Mariano seems more worried about losing his reputation than seeing his wife again. As Alligator investigates, he uncovers a world in which brutality, treachery, and passion go hand in hand. Behind Helena's abduction is a shadowy figure known as The Master of Knots—who proves to be as powerful as he is psychotic. As more members of the S&M underground disappear, Alligator races desperately against time to find his true identity.

The Master of Knots (Alligator Series)

Probably the best living Italian crime writer - Il Manifesto Set in and around Venice, a pacy, witty, crime thriller Alligator - former blues singer and ex convict, now a private detective - finds his job increasingly complicated. No one plays by the old rules any more. When Colombian Arias Cuevas is stopped at the Venice airport with a belly full of cocaine, he has less to fear from prison than from his aunt La Tia: it was her coke he took off with. As La Tia leaves a bloody trail from Bogota to Venice, the police arrest art smuggler Nazzareno Corradi on suspicion of being Cuevas' drug-smuggling contact. But Alligator catches a whiff of injustice. Engaged by Corradi's lawyer to establish his client's innocence, Alligator plunges into a familiar underground world of drug-dealers, prostitution and corrupt officialdom.

Isis Audio Books

In Carlotto's The Campagna Trail, Inspector Campagna uses an old friendship with notorious drug dealer Roby Pizzo in a Machiavellian attempt to keep the peace. But when an interfering new police chief demands Campagna bring down the Mafioso who heads Pizzo's gang, Campagna must use every weapon he has to save his job - and his life. Meanwhile in Carofiglio's The Speed of the Angel, a writer in crisis strikes up an unlikely friendship with a mysterious woman he meets in a quiet seaside café. As their conversations deepen, and their obsessions darken, their drug-fuelled relationship begins to spiral, in this haunting tale of damnation and redemption. Finally in De Cataldo's The White Powder Dance, the city police are put on the trail of a baby-faced new graduate in the Milanese banking sector. As the pursuit accelerates through back streets and skyscrapers, it becomes clear that there is more to organised crime than getting your hands dirty.

Cocaine

De Cataldo, Giancarlo

Carofiglio, Gianrico

Cataldo, Carlotto Carofiglio De

Literary

MacLehose Press

An explosive crime thriller from the author of The Goodbye Kiss, “the reigning king of Mediterranean noir” (Boston Phoenix). Giorgio Pellegrini, the hero of The Goodbye Kiss, has been living an “honest” life for eleven years. But that’s about to change. His lawyer has been deceiving him and now Giorgio is forced into service as an unwilling errand boy for an organized crime syndicate. At one time, Giorgio wouldn’t have thought twice about robbing, kidnapping, and killing in order to get what he wanted, but these days he realizes he’s too long in the tooth to face his enemies head-on. To return to his peaceful life as a successful businessman he’s going to have to find another way to shake off the mob. Fortunately, Giorgio’s circumstances may have changed, but deep down he’s still the ruthless killer he used to be. “Carlotto . . . provides a machine-gun pace, a jaundiced eye for political corruption and a refreshing absence of anything approaching a moral vision.” ―Kirkus Reviews “Carlotto’s taut, broody Mediterranean noir is filled with blind corners and savage set pieces. Pellegrini’s deeds are unquestionably loathsome, but his witty Machiavellian perspective, amplified by a class rage well attuned to the current Italian zeitgeist, makes you root for him all the same.”―The New Yorker “[Carlotto’s] narration allows gruesome glimpses into an unscrupulous psyche.”―Publishers Weekly “A surprisingly enjoyable romp . . . a very solid noir thriller, and very good (if slightly queasy-making) fun. One of Carlotto’s better works.”―The Complete Review

At the End of a Dull Day

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

Europa Editions

“Think The Sopranos meets Goodfellas―without the Americanized gloss . . . [A] not-for-the-faint-hearted novel by an Italian master” (Reading Matters). In The Colombian Mule, the author called “the reigning king of Mediterranean noir” (The Boston Phoenix) and “the best living Italian crime writer” (Il Manifesto) brings to riveting life the story of Arías Cuevas, who sets in motion a chain of bloody events when police catch him trying to carry a shipment of La Tía’s cocaine into Italy. The intended recipient of the coke appears to have been art smuggler Nazzareno Corradi. But Corradi has been set up. He hires a PI known as “the Alligator” to get him out of the mess he’s in. Meanwhile, La Tía, a notoriously ruthless figure in the Colombian drug trade, is determined to move her operation to Italy, where cocaine has become all the rage among the professional classes. There’s only one thing standing in her way: the Alligator. The Alligator, an ex-con-turned-investigator, and his two companions, former underworld heavy Beniamino Rossini and Max the Memory, are among Massimo Carlotto’s most vivid noir creations. Together, the three men will wade deep into a criminal world of few scruples, testing their own strict and specific moral code along the way. “The morally ambiguous tone makes this an intriguing read, and the suspense is well maintained.”―Manchester Evening News “A fascinating glimpse into Italian culture and justice system. It’s sparely written and though quite short, there’s a lot of action . . . dark and gritty.”―Euro Crime “[A] brilliant book.”―The Friendly Shelf

A woman has gone missing. Her husband, too ashamed to admit to the police that he and his wife were part of a ring of sexual adventurers that organized sadomasochistic orgies, turns instead to the Alligator. Burrati enters a depraved demi-world where ferocious deviates prey upon lonely victims. But the savagery of this world is only the first surprise this investigation holds in store for the Alligator. Encountering such violence and desperation triggers memories of his own time in prison. And while the unwritten rule of ex-cons is that you must never talk about your experiences behind bars, the Alligator and his two long-time associates, Max Memory and Beniamino Rossini, are forced to confront demons they thought long buried. In The Master of Knots, “the reigning king of Mediterranean noir,” Massimo Carlotto, gives his readers a work of hardboiled noir fiction that is darker than ever before as he digs into the shadowy corners of human experience. This stunning novel sets a new high-water mark in the literary history of the Mediterranean Noir novel.

Erotica

PI Marco “the Alligator” Buratti returns in a “raucous, delicious ride” from the celebrated Italian crime writer and author of Bandit Love(Cedar Rapids Gazette). Padua, Italy. An unremarkable man, a husband and father, disappears without a trace. After a few months of searching, the police send his file to the cold cases department to be thrown in with the files of other missing persons. One woman knows the truth about his disappearance, but, being the daughter of a prominent and wealthy Swiss industrialist, she fears coming forward with what she knows: that she was his lover and that there is more to his disappearance than another bored suburban husband running out on his wife. Stricken by guilt, she finally confides in a lawyer who advises her to turn to Marco Buratti, a.k.a. the Alligator, for help.Buratti agrees to assist the woman. Initially, the case of the woman’s missing lover seems like a lost cause, but a clue puts the Alligator and his trusted associates, Max the Memory and Beniamino Rossini, on the trail of the unscrupulous and brilliant criminal, Giorgio Pellegrini, protagonist of The Goodbye Kiss and At the End of a Dull Day.The deadly game of chicken in which the good guys and the bad guys are often hard to tell apart is Carlotto’s specialty. But good or bad, these men are survivors in a world where the once ironclad criminal codes of conduct are disappearing and new criminal syndicates do vicious battle with old. “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 “Gang of Lovers is Italian ‘hard boiled’ noir but with the shell left on.”―Crime Scraps Review

Gang of Lovers

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Carlotto, Massimo. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Carlotto, Massimo

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Carlotto, Massimo. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Colombian Mule

The Master of Knots

The Colombian Mule

The Master of Knots (Alligator Series)

The Colombian Mule

Cocaine

At the End of a Dull Day

The Colombian Mule

The Master of Knots

Gang of Lovers