โCuore capovoltoโ (Upside-Down Heart) by Paola Barbato, published by Neri Pozza, is a noir novel in which the author, like the great masters of the genre, imagines worlds of darkness, builds them before our eyes, and invites us to enter. And she leaves us there, in the company of ever-renewed anguish.
We are in the age of apps, we live with apps that envelop our existence and permeate our every activity.
As in every activity we engage in, there is always something that unites us and gives us the impetus to see the new, to discover, to learn and to dare, the so-called network, the web, a world that seems so clear yet hides pitfalls.
A network that can be fatal for those who do not use it properly or do not have the right armor. Alberto Danini, an IT expert, knows well that part of the network that can be harmful to society and, for work (agent of the central operational service of the judicial police), he has always been on the lookout for unclear situations behind a screen.
You are not a monster, you are not heartless. You just hide it, you turn it upside down, like, you know? People who have inverted organs? Well, you are a monster with an upside-down heart, beating on the right side.
A case like Leonardo’s will see him deeply involved right from the start and will prove dangerous for him and those he loves. Leonardo has ended up in a game bigger than himself, something he cannot explain even to those who are trying to help him, because he knows he could lose something really important.
This is where a story full of mystery and twists and turns begins, as well as โlevels to overcomeโ
I will say nothing more except that Paola Barbato’s narrative is so engrossing that I devoured this novel.
๐๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฎรฒ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ โ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ข ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ขโ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ง๐ ๐ข ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข ๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ข๐, ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ ๐ซ๐๐กรฉ ๐ฉ๐ฎรฒ ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฌรฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฌ๐ข ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ข ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข.
And in the end, the truth emerges with such innocence that one cannot help but become attached to this story with a taste of reality, even though it remains something invented.
The author
PAOLA BARBATO, born in 1971, Milanese by birth, Brescian by adoption, now living in Verona with her partner, three daughters, and two dogs. A writer and comic book scriptwriter, she has been writing Dylan Dog for Sergio Bonelli Editore since 1999, as well as participating in several other comic book series. She has published Bilico (2006), Mani nude (2008, winner of the Scerbanenco Prize, from which a film was made in 2024), and Il filo rosso (2010) for Rizzoli. With Edizioni Piemme, she published Non ti faccio niente (2017), the trilogy Io so chi sei (2018), Zoo (2019), and Vengo a prenderti (2020), followed by Lโultimo ospite (2021), La cattiva strada (2022), and Il dono (2023). Since 2019, he has also collaborated with Il battello a vapore, writing books for children and young adults. In 2009, he wrote the television drama Nel nome del male for Sky.
