The Fugitive

February 12, 2007
Billed as a novel, this less than compelling account by one of Italy's top authors of crime fiction focuses on the six years he spent as a fugitive from Italian justice for a murder he claims he didn't commit. After an Italian court upheld his murder conviction in 1979, Carlotto (The Goodbye Kiss
) lived in Paris, Madrid and Mexico City. He describes in some detail his various disguises, people he met in the expatriate communities, techniques for evading capture and sources of income—primarily his family and wages as a translator. What's lacking, however, is any sense of urgency. During his years on the run, Carlotto was never pursued by Italian authorities; he finally gave himself up in 1985. Though fortunate for him, the result is a flat, suspenseless plot. Originally published in 1994 in Italy, this short book contains frequent digressions into local politics and the machinations of Carlotto's legal case—including his eventual presidential pardon—that interfere with his story of personal flight.

April 1, 2007
Hardly a household name in the United States, Carlotto ("Death's Dark Abyss") has established himselfat least in Europeas the reigning king of Mediterranean noir. This is his first "novel," a thinly fictionalized account of the experiences that made him so well known in his native Italy. In 1976, Carlotto, a radical left-winger, happened on the body of a brutally murdered young woman. Because of his political leanings, the repressive regime chose to pin the blame on him, and, after one acquittal and a subsequent conviction, Carlotto, on the advice of his attorneys, went on the lam, a life that lasted for years and carried him from Italy to France and, finally, to Mexico. After 11 trials and pounds of judicial transcripts, he received a presidential pardon in 1993. Carlotto recounts his years of exile in this short narrative, a model of taut, cutting-edge, descriptive prose that absolutely refuses to lift its voice, be it in rebuke or any other emotion, so that the presence of an exclamation point would be as shocking as finding mouse droppings amid the pasta. For any library where "coolth" is celebrated.Bob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2007
Carlotto, considered one of Italy's foremost crime writers, spent time in prison for a crime he did not commit. The victim of a politically motivated conspiracy, he also spent time on the lam, a fugitive from justice, living in foreign countries under false identities. This is the lightly fictionalized story of those years on the run, and it's a gripping tale, whether read as a novel or as a memoir. Carlotto's ordeal began in 1976, when he was charged for a murder and convicted; running out of appeals and knowing the fix was in, he decided to run, and between 1982 and 1985--the focus of this novel--he created a variety of identities, supported himself with numerous menial jobs, and learned that trusting in others is a very risky business. As exciting as that other " Fugitive," this roman a clef (originally published in Italy in 1994) combines compelling crime drama with a searing portrait of a justice system gone horribly wrong. It also reads like a step-by-step guide on how to live under the radar.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)