Poisonville

The novel Poisonville by Massimo Carlotto and Marco Videtta, translated from the Italian by Antony Shugaar and published in Italy as Nordest, falls under the category World Noir. The story brings to mind Roberto Saviano's nonfictional Gomorrah, about the chemical poisoning of large parts of southern Italy by crime gangs. But Poisonville takes place in Italy's northeast, showing that cupidity is no respecter of geographical boundaries. The story is not quite hard-boiled — there is a murder mystery and some gunplay — but the window opened on Italy's changing society and corruption more than compensates.