Suburra - by Carlo Bonini & Giancarlo de Cataldo (Paperback)

About the Book

"Suburra takes a deep dive into a politically and financially corrupt contemporary Italy, where a mighty local crime family, the Mafia, corrupt politicians, and new rabid criminal elements battle each other for control of a glittering prize--control over a multibillion dollar development twenty miles from the Italian capital. During the final days of Silvio Berlusconi's reign, a massive development proposal that will turn the depressed coastal settlement of Ostia into a gambling paradise, a Las Vegas on the Mediterranean, is winding its way through the Italian legislature thanks to the sponsorship of politicians in the pay of crime syndicates. It's business as usual in the Italian capital. Or so it seems. A vicious gang of local thugs loyal to nobody but themselves is insisting on a bigger cut than agreed upon. The Mafia and their political puppets aren't going to back down without a fight."--

Book Synopsis

The "razor-sharp political thriller set during the dying days of Berlusconi's regime" that inspired the Netflix original series (New Statesman).

This "fast-moving crime thriller" takes a deep dive into a politically and financially corrupt contemporary Italy, where crime families, corrupt politicians, and new rabid criminal elements battle each other for control of a glittering prize--a multibillion-dollar development twenty miles from the Italian capital (Publishers Weekly).
During the final days of Silvio Berlusconi's reign, a massive development proposal that will turn the depressed coastal settlement of Ostia into a gambling paradise, a Las Vegas on the Mediterranean, is winding its way through the Italian legislature thanks to the sponsorship of politicians in the pay of crime syndicates. It's business as usual in the Italian capital. Or so it seems. A vicious gang of local thugs loyal to nobody but themselves is insisting on a bigger cut than agreed upon. The Mafia and their political puppets aren't going to back down without a fight. And one policeman, pushed to the sidelines, may not be able to stop an all-out war . . .With a plot that "thrills from the get-go," Suburra is a compelling work of international crime fiction and the inspiration for the popular Netflix series of the same name (New Statesman).

"A novel of Rome, meaning that the city itself, in all its history, glory, and despair, is skillfully sewn into the fiber of the tale. . . . Evokes Mario Puzo's famous trilogy and other classics of the genre."--Kirkus Reviews

Review Quotes

Praise for Suburra

"Rome itself, in all its history, glory, and despair, is skillfully sewn into the fiber of Suburra . . . Evokes Mario Puzo's famous trilogy and other classics of the genre."
--Kirkus Reviews

"[A] fast-moving crime thriller . . . an unflinching look at real-life widespread corruption in Italy."
--Publishers Weekly

"The basis of an award-winning 2015 Italian film, this contemporary noir will appeal to readers intrigued by gangland crime, big-city corruption, and how Italy actually 'works.'"
--Library Journal (Starred Review)

"[C]austic and blunt [...] Suburra is a reminder that crime fiction can say as much about a society as other genres."
--The Guardian

"The plot of Suburra, fast-paced and brutal, thrills from the get-go. [A] blistering, grimly absorbing satire of Rome's kickback and bribery culture."
--The New Statesman

"An enthralling noir novel that draws inspiration from the real-life scandals
that have plagued Italy in recent years."
--Paris Match

"With a bit of added splatter à la Tarantino, Suburra captures a great city
that has been tragically handed over to political, economic, and criminal corruption."
--La Repubblica

"No code of honor, magnificent godfathers, or other such nonsense here, just cynicism, rapacity, money as the only value that matters. Made in the image of the world as it is. Chilling."
--Télérama

"Suburra may deal in traditional gangster movie tropes, but it uses them to tell a story that's modern and universal."
--Vice (on film adaptation of the novel)

"Bonini and de Cataldo find the courage to recount the unadulterated truth of a city that seems to have forgotten it is part of the civilized world."
--Paolo Sorrentino, Oscar Award-winning director of The Great Beauty

Praise for Suburra

"An enthralling noir novel that draws inspiration from the real-life scandals that have plagued Italy in recent years."
--Paris Match

"Suburra performs an autopsy on Rome, that shrewd and corrupt city. As a novel it is fully equal to the task of capturing its complex subject."
--Le Monde

"In Suburra, the incidents revealed by the Mafia Capitale investigation were already in large part recounted in the vivid and hard tones (here and there with a bit of 'splatter, ' a la Quentin Tarantino) of 'fiction, ' but with the realistic breadth that captures a great city tragically 'delivered' to political, economic and criminal corruption."
--La Repubblica

"Bonini and De Cataldo find the courage to recount the unadulterated truth, however disturbing it might be, of a city that seems to have forgotten it is part of the civilized world."
--Paolo Sorrentino, Oscar Award-winning director of The Great Beauty

Praise for Suburra
"An enthralling noir novel that draws inspiration from the real-life scandals that have plagued Italy in recent years."
--Paris Match
"Suburra performs an autopsy on Rome, that shrewd and corrupt city. As a novel it is fully equal to the task of capturing its complex subject."
--Le Monde
"In Suburra, the incidents revealed by the Mafia Capitale investigation were already in large part recounted in the vivid and hard tones (here and there with a bit of 'splatter, ' a la Quentin Tarantino) of 'fiction, ' but with the realistic breadth that captures a great city tragically 'delivered' to political, economic and criminal corruption."
--La Repubblica
"Bonini and De Cataldo find the courage to recount the unadulterated truth, however disturbing it might be, of a city that seems to have forgotten it is part of the civilized world."
--Paolo Sorrentino, Oscar Award-winning director of The Great Beauty

About the Author

Carlo Bonini is an Italian writer and journalist for the Italian national
daily, La Repubblica.

Giancarlo De Cataldo is a bestselling novelist, essayist, the author of numerous TV screenplays, and a judge on the circuit court of Rome.

Antony Shugaar's translations for Europa Editions include seven books in the Commissario Ricciardi series by Maurizio de Giovanni, For Grace Received by Valeria Parrella, Fabio Bartolomei's Alfa Romeo 1300 and Other Miracles, and Margherita Dolce Vita by Stefano Benni.