THEThe detective and detective genre is one of the most beloved and enduring in the history of literature. The allure of evil attracts us more than anything else.
Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, said that Everyone likes a good crime, as long as you’re not the victim.
He wasn’t wrong.
Second Matthew Bezdeck, researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), readers mentally participate in suspenseful scenes: they solve problems on behalf of the characters.
In short, they redraw events as how they could have happened differently and criticize or praise what the protagonists do.
Not only that: when you read a thriller you tend to empathize with the characters. Neurons understand conflict and help put yourself in the characters’ shoes, just like we do with real people.
Furthermore, the physical and biochemical reactions during reading are in fact the same as those of whom practices extreme sports, i.e. the release of dopamine, endorphins and adrenaline in the brain.
Among the four books to read of the week are stories of detectives, influencers and men of power.
The funniest: How to kill a man and get away with it by Katy Brent.
The most current: The predator by Marco Niro.
The most esoteric: The alchemist of the lagoon by Piero Lanzotti.
The most intriguing: The mysteries of the cup by Sabrina Pieragostini and Flavio Vanetti.
The four books to read of the week
In the wake of Dino Buzzati who in 1965 published on Corriere della Sera a series of dedicated articles «in search of mysterious Italy», Sabrina Pieragostini and Flavio Vanetti retrace a journey in episodes through phenomena of parapsychology, magic, apparitions and various oddities from all over the peninsula.
It all starts from Vanetti’s memories: an unusual, nocturnal editorial meeting in The Prealpine of Varese. An editor-in-chief and an editor sit around a desk: in the centre, a small glass – known as a ‘cup’ – surrounded by the letters of the alphabet ready for a seance. The colleagues around follow with curiosity.
It started out as a game, but things soon get interesting. One day the spirit of Paul VI is revealed, announcing Wojtyla’s rise to the papal throne. On another occasion, however, Don Milani indicates the place where to find Aldo Moro.
Stories of ghosts, of demonic places between Milan, Turin and the rest of Italy, tales of extraterrestrial sightings, of life after death and of unsolved mysteries. The mysteries of the cup tells the whispers of the streets, that world that hides in the shadows, the stories that are often passed down from generation to generation.
It is a different Italy, nebulous and intriguing. It is a journey into that world where the answers are not certain and the questions always remain open, a fun game that helps make our imagination lively and creative.
Info. Sabrina Pieragostini, Flavio Vanetti. The mysteries of the cup. Minerva Editions. 19 euros.
The alchemist of the lagoon (Paolo Lanzotti)
Venice, 1753. In a villa along the Brenta Riviera the young nobleman Enrico Albrizi dies. It would seem to be a suicide, but some disturbing circumstances, such as the position of the corpse, the burned face and the presence of esoteric symbols at the crime scene suggest that the young man was involved in a satanic ceremony.
The head of the Inquisition summons Marco Leon to examine the case…
From the fog of the canals of Venice to the patrician villas on the Brenta Riviera, between alchemy experiments and dangerous plots, Paolo Lanzotti composes a new, splendid fresco that takes us back to the Serenissima Republic at the time of its inexorable but fascinating decadence.
Info. Paolo Lanzotti. The alchemist of the lagoon. Three60.18 euros.
How to Kill a Man and Get Away with It (Katy Brent)
Kitty Collins is a beautiful and very rich influencer, with millions of followers who follow her on Instagram, and a group of friends with whom she enjoys evenings and holidays.
It all begins by chance, with an accident that ended badly, but then, when Kitty realizes that getting rid of a body is easier than she thought, the temptation to do it again is very strong.
When a man allows himself to treat a woman badly or, worse, to be violent with herKitty simply takes him out. Without any sense of guilt or remorse. And she’s so good that she enjoys it…
After all, why not put yourself at the service of women by eliminating all the men who don’t respect them and make them suffer? But this is dirty work, and it risks becoming very dangerous. How much longer will Kitty get away with this?
Info. Katy Brent. How to kill a man and get away with it. Three60.
The Predator (Marco Niro)
The Predator is set in a small mountain village, where one night, on the peak overlooking the town, a horrible bloody event happens, a massacre destined to upset the life of the country forever.
The repressed impulses and atavistic fears suddenly find free rein and at that point the hunt for the monster begins.
The beast. The bear.
While the rifles fire, the stories of four men are intertwined, on whose existence the murderous claws have left the deepest mark: the powerful mayor who dreams of the highest seat in regional politics; an esteemed heart surgeon who would like to become head physician; a provincial commissioner who fantasizes about becoming police commissioner; a rebellious priest who aspires to rediscover his faith.
And when the circle of hunters on the hunt begins to inexorably close around the monster, it will perhaps be too late to understand that the game, for everyone, is to lose, and that every predator, man or beast, sooner or later risks becoming prey itself.
Info. Marco Niro. The predator. Bee (Bottega Errante Edizioni). 19 euros.
