FABIO UMBRO is 46 years old and works as a television writer. With the short story The creator of scarecrows, in May 2018, he received a special mention in the Narrative – Short story category at the XVII Edition of the Unpublished Prize – Colline di Torino at the Turin Book Fair. In 2022 he published The condemnation of the meat with Porto Seguro Editore.
The idea of humanity is completely relative in Melchior’s mind. A middle-aged man, a simple butcher devoted to work and culinary pleasure; but also a murderer, a monster, a cannibal. On the ashes of a brutal and violent childhood, he is still a child desperate for the consent of a mentally unstable mother. A serial killer able to blend into the crowd, who cancels the existence of his victims to really begin to exist, the ferocious conquest of what he lacks to elevate his soul. Melchior is all of this, perhaps more.
Fabio Umbro’s new novel is a captivating psychological thriller full of twists.
From the very first pages I was able to actually appreciate the author’s strong style and narrative ability.
One fragment after another, a terrible truth slowly comes to the surface, which seems to make fun of the semblance of respectable happiness staged with so much effort by Melchior. There are dark memories that have remained dormant for a long time, mysteries never revealed that cast shadows on the future that can no longer be contained.
The plot is apparently simple but brilliant, it leaves the reader on their toes until the last page, grappling with the disturbing feeling that after all, every life, even the most “successful” one, actually has feet of clay and it rests on lies, omissions, convenient choices and compromises that in the long run will end up showing the bill.
It is an intriguing, unconventional and atmospheric story, in which the twists and turns push the reader out of his “comfort zone” and catalyze his attention to the last word.
The protagonist is a no-nonsense, tough and courageous man who is not afraid of the challenges of life, who often appears lonely and sad.
In conclusion, we are faced with a truly intense story in which human nature can be doubted, and how far people can go.
I still emphasize the clever use of making the reading more compelling and “I’ll just read one more chapter” … until the final word comes.
A reading that I believe can thrill a large number of readers, not just lovers of the genre, and therefore I highly recommend it with great pleasure.