Roberto Perrone
Canessa Case History
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Annibale Canessa is a former Colonel of the Italian Carabinieri, also known as the “Army”, the most widespread police force on the Italian territory. Back in the days, between the late 1970s and the early 1980s, he was the brightest member of the anti-terrorism squad, despite his young age. He moved quickly and ruthlessly to bring terrorists to justice, especially those from the bloody organization of the Red Brigades.

At the peak of his career, Canessa forces himself in a kind of self-exile, after realizing it’s impossible for him to keep fighting his personal war on terrorism. The 1970s are over and the 80s are more carefree times, a bit fatuous even, but it’s in response to the previous gloomy decade. There is no longer any need for heroes, for warriors. Canessa, tired of the political games that determined the decisions within the Carabinieri, returns to live in Liguria, the region where he was born, in a small village by the seaside called San Fruttuoso, reachable only by sea or on foot, where he runs a restaurant with his aunt. But he will be back in action after 25 years when in the first chapter of the saga, La seconda vita di Annibale Canessa (The Second Life of Annibale Canessa), his brother and a former terrorist that he had arrested back then, are found dead together, murdered in a street of Milan. The second novel is titled L’estate degli inganni (The Summer of Deceit), the third L’ultima volontà (The Last Will).

The peculiarity of these novels, very different from other titles in the Italian thriller scene, is that they take up the themes and the mysteries of a season in Italian history that is still unexplored by fiction: the former colonel, who receives no support by the State but only operates with a well-knit team of experts, investigates the Years of Lead and tackles cold cases related to that period, still full of shadows and red herrings.

The author, Roberto Perrone, was a direct witness – at that time he attended university in Genoa, one of the cities that have been most affected by terrorist violence – and he created an archive of essays and articles on the events of those years. In each book there are references to real cases, such as the particularly heinous murder of a magistrate in front of his children, a terrible massacre in a station (which even though it’s never explicitly mentioned in the novel it’s clearly the bombing at Bologna Central station, dated 2nd August 1980), the irruption in a Red Brigades refuge that marked the turning point in the fight against terrorism, the resurgence of terrorism in the second half of the 80s.

Annibale Canessa investigates those years and the controversial episodes, that were never solved or were solved in the wrong way at the time, with an Edmond Dantes spirit, not just to avenge innocent people, but also to know the truth. In these novels, as in the Count of Montecristo, many who in those years were guilty of terrible crimes, later change their lives, obtaining positions of prestige in Italian society, climbing on the ladder of political and economic power. But their prestige and wealth are stained with blood.

Canessa does not believe in private justice. He is more interested in the search for the truth. Once he has achieved it, he delivers it to the judiciary and to the media. By his side in every adventure there are the ex-marshal Ivan Repetto, his faithful helper when they both were in the Carabinieri, his personal critical conscience Piercarlo Rossi, an Italian-Swiss billionaire once arrested by Canessa and now a supporter – economically and logistically – of his missions, and Matteo Bernasconi, a cat-loving hacker and safes expert. The other characters in the saga are Carla Trovati, a brilliant young journalist at Corriere della Sera, with whom Canessa will have a hot on-and-off relationship, and Sergio Calandra, a senior secret services official who offers a consulting job to the colonel at the beginning of his second life.

Roberto Perrone

Roberto Perrone

Roberto Perrone was born in Rapallo and lives in Milan. He writes about sport, food and travel. He is the author of Zamora (2003), La lunga (2007), Averti trovato ora (2008), Numero 1 (2008), the biography of Gigi Buffon, goalkeeper and captain of the Italian national football team, La ballata dell’amore salato (2009), Occhi negli occhi (2011), La cucina degli amori impossibili (2013), Manuale del viaggiatore goloso (2015), La seconda vita di Annibale Canessa (2017), L’estate degli inganni (2018), L’ultima volontà (2019)and Un odore di Toscano (2022, Premio Iolanda).

Canessa Case History

 

 

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