Black Souls
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The modern Italian classic about Calabrian organized crime—now an award-winning motion picture—makes its English-language debut.
In the remote Aspromonte Mountains in southern Calabria, Italy, three best friends embark on a life of crime in order to raise themselves up out of the poverty of their childhoods. Brainy Luciano, the behind-the-scenes schemer, was orphaned as a little boy when the local mob boss had his postman father executed. Lazy, jovial Luigi has learned that there’s no point in following the rules. And completing the triumvirate is the nameless narrator, from whose black soul comes the inspiration and energy for each new criminal project, from kidnapping to armed robbery to heroin dealing to contract killing.
Set in the birthplace of the ‘Ndrangheta, Calabria’s ruthless and ubiquitous mafia, Black Souls draws on centuries of brigand lore, peasant rebellion history, mountain mythology, and colonial suffering to offer a gripping morality tale about how violence begets violence.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Three childhood friends claw their way to the top of Italy’s criminal underworld in this rich and colorful novel. Deep in the mountainous forests of southern Calabria, three farmers’ sons—smart Luciano, lazy Luigi, and the book’s headstrong (but unnamed) narrator—work as “shepherds,” transporting and housing kidnapping victims for the mafia. Gioacchino Criaco spins a cinematic tale that encompasses drug dealing, assassination, and robbery—and zero sentimentality. Danger lurks around every corner and Criaco’s characters are shocking and fascinating in their complete lack of morality.
