Antonio Manzini Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Rocco Schiavone Books
Black Run | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Adam's Rib / A Cold Death | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Out of Season | (2018) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Spring Cleaning | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Antonio Manzini is an Italian writer, actor, director, and screenwriter best known for the “Rocco Schiavone” series of novels.
The author was born in 1964 and went to the Rome-based National Academy of Dramatic Arts. He would then go on to become a scriptwriter, as he wrote screenplays such as “Come Dio comanda” for Gabriele Salvatores and “Il siero della vanita” for Alex Infascelli.
He has also written for TV including numerous episodes of “Il XII apostolo” and “Squadra Antimafia” in addition to “Il delitto di Via poma.” He was also responsible for writing and editing the script for the series “Buscetta boss of two worlds” and “Benvenuti a tavola 2.”
In 2016, he was the director of the film “Cristian and Palleta” against everyone.
Manzini made his fiction writing debut in 2005 when he published “Sangue Marcio,” which would then be followed by the very popular work “La giostra dei criceti.”
In 2015, he published “Black Run,” the debut novel of the “Rocco Schiavone” series of novels. The series of novels would become very popular that they would be made into the “Rocco Schiavone” television series.
Antonio Manzini wrote the script for the series alongside Maurizio Careddu. The series started airing in 2016 and ran for several seasons, becoming one of the most popular series during its run.
The author has also published a range of short stories in collaboration with Niccolo Ammaniti that were published in “Einaudui” and “Crimini.” He was also involved in the writing of several short stories that were published in “The Missing Ring” anthology that was published in 2018.
Over the years, Antonio Manzini’s works have been translated and published in countries all over Europe and North America.
“Black Run” by Antonio Manzini is a story set in Val d’Aosta where s a body has been found in the middle of a ski slope. A crawler that the resort uses to smooth over the snow had run over the body and subsequently dismembered it so badly that it is unrecognizable.
Rocco Schiavone is the deputy commissioner that has recently been transferred to the area and is charged with the investigation. He collects all manner of evidence including strips of clothing, many organic remains, tobacco crumbs, and a macabre sign that may indicate that this was a crime rather than an accident.
The investigation soon learns that the dead man is Leone Micciche, who is the son of a family of wine entrepreneurs from Catania. The man had come to the glaciers and peaks of the luxurious resort alongside Luisa Pec his wife and intelligent local beauty.
Schiavone had been sent to the area as punishment for his crooked ways even though he is very talented. Working feverishly he puts together the pieces of the puzzle and comes up with an explosive revelation.
Soon enough, the commissioner is thinking the murder could be either a crime of passion or have something to do with debts or the revenge of the mafia.
While he is not a good man, one cannot help but be on his side since he seems to be the only bulwark against the evil that seems intent on taking over the small town.
Antonio Manzini’s novel “Adam’s Rib” is the second novel of the “Rocco Schiavone” series of novels set in northwest Italy in the small town of Aosta. He is still discontent with life in the small alpine town, where he had been sent since he had gotten on the wrong side of an influential government official.
In the small town, he lives with his puppy called Lupa. While he is an exceptional investigator, Rocco is not your ordinary immaculate police officer as he is rude and arrogant.
He is also dealing with a lot of guilt and pain which had been inflicted while he was living in Trastevere where he was born. What he really loves to do is stay at home and away from the water and occasionally indulge in love affairs with the local women.
The last thing he wanted to do was to be out there investigating another murder. But then a middle-aged woman is found dead hanging from a chandelier in a dark room in her house. It does seem the house had been ransacked but Rocco believes something tried to set up the scene.
After investigating he runs into a series of divergences and coincidences that ultimately transform what had at first seemed like a robbery into a fog of criminal, environmental, and human mysteries.
To resolve it, Rocco Schiavone the deputy commissioner brings into play his stringent and bored method of combining compassion, brutality, and quick intuition to make for a thrilling mystery fiction work.
“Out of Season” by Antonio Manzini is the engrossing third mystery in the “Rocco Schiavone” series of novels. It is a work with parallel action as Rocco Schiavone the deputy chief commissioner gets to work on a very complicated mystery.
The story opens with a cargo van blowing a tire which causes it to veer off the icy and wet road in the Valle d’Aosta in the mountainous part of Italy’s north. The driver and the passenger sitting in the front seat lose their lives in an instant.
It does seem that it would be the preserve of traffic police until they discover the vehicle had fake license plates. Rocco and his team are assigned the case and soon run into a web of crimes from murder and money laundering.
The case involves a rich family of industrialists known as the Berguets with some really dark secrets. The most prominent daughter of the family is Chiara Berguet who is very popular in college but has now gone missing.
The deputy commissioner is very interested to learn what lies behind the facade of a privileged family life. He ultimately finds that for the Berguets, there is a thin line between business and racketeering and this may have something to do with the disappearance of Chiara.
I have all the books on my Kindle, and have watched all the seasons of the series several times. Obviously, I’m obsessed, LOL! However, I wonder who translated the books into English, and can’t find that info anywhere. Do you know?
Antony Shugaar