Dubbed Mediterranean noir, in many reviews, 'the Alligator' series by Carlotto offers up a brooding mix of crime and politics within the Italian underworld. Its also damned good writing. I believe fans of Hammett, Chandler, Ross MacDonald or Lawrence Block would feel right at home within these pages. ( )

Carlotto, imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, creates a good series about a criminal fixer who helps falsely convicted criminals. This one was kind of low-key but interesting reading, if not very exciting. The translation is British-focused (informants are called "grass" and "supergrass"), and full of tropes (the killer gangster with a code; drug dealers are bad, thieves are "good" and have middle-class values, the crooks call a cop a "flatfoot" even though it's not 1940, etc.) Despite my criticism I finished the story because he writes well and knows his subject.
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This is an interesting twist on the usual crime formula. Our intrepid investigators Alligator, Rossini and Fat Max are themselves ex-cons with a strong sense of honour amongst thieves who devote themselves to infiltrating organised crime syndicates to ensure justice for those used as expendable pawns in their game. There's nothing sentimental about them though, they think nothing of employing the tools of the gangster - blackmail, extortion and assassination - in pursuit of their goals.

In this tale, the eponymous Colombian drug smuggler is caught while on a rogue mission and used to entrap Corradi, a one-time criminal now going straight, as part of a Special Branch operation to break the Venice cocaine trade. The police know Corradi's innocent, but there's an old score top settle and Corradi's going down anyway. Unless Alligator and chums have anything to do with it.

Not a classic of the genre, but a thoroughly enjoyable romp in the Italian underworld. I'd like to read more from this author.

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This is an interesting twist on the usual crime formula. Our intrepid investigators Alligator, Rossini and Fat Max are themselves ex-cons with a strong sense of honour amongst thieves who devote themselves to infiltrating organised crime syndicates to ensure justice for those used as expendable pawns in their game. There's nothing sentimental about them though, they think nothing of employing the tools of the gangster - blackmail, extortion and assassination - in pursuit of their goals.

In this tale, the eponymous Colombian drug smuggler is caught while on a rogue mission and used to entrap Corradi, a one-time criminal now going straight, as part of a Special Branch operation to break the Venice cocaine trade. The police know Corradi's innocent, but there's an old score top settle and Corradi's going down anyway. Unless Alligator and chums have anything to do with it.

Not a classic of the genre, but a thoroughly enjoyable romp in the Italian underworld. I'd like to read more from this author.

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Italy is not as pleasant as tourists think it is. ( )