Berlusconi, bunga bunga, and the dog days of summer

Since it’s the dog days of summer and we’re feeling rather lazy, we thought we’d resurrect one of our favorite previous posts, a review of The Wolves of St. Peter’s “written by” Silvio Berlusconi.

Berlusconi, former prime minister of Italy and bunga bunga fan, is back in the news again, this time for exhausting all his appeals and finally having to serve a one-year sentence for tax fraud. Due to his advanced age, his sentence will likely be in the form of house arrest or community service. Given that it seems like he’ll have some time on his hands, he might enjoy reading the Italian version of our novel, to be called I Lupi del Vaticano, coming August 2013 to Italy (you can get a copy from Amazon Italy as well as other book vendors throughout the country).

We absolutely love the cover. Here it is:

And here’s what our Berlusconi had to say about the novel:

"Great Book! Couldn’t put it down. Merkel and Sarkozy called three times demanding I squeeze more blood from a stone, but I told them to get a life and go read The Wolves of St. Peter’s. The authors (two charming Canadian ladies) tell me they based the character of The Turk on me. Even called him Silvio (that’s my first name). Don’t see it myself. That painter, Michelangelo, no it was Raphael, called The Turk “the most cheerfully evil man” he’d ever met. I tell you, Raphael better be careful in the future or I’ll paint moustaches on all those pretty Madonnas of his! And that little upstart from Florence, Francesco, said I… I mean The Turk… looked like that fat old bullfrog from the fairytale…. And what was with the guy who thought he was a bat? But I did like the bunga bunga, and oh, la, la, that Calendula – what a looker! Shame what happened to her. And the ending! How shocking! I never guessed who the murderer was. Well, I won't spoil the surprise. You'll just have to wait until it's published and read it for yourselves."

(You can read the original post in its entirety here.)

Here's what an actual reviewer just wrote about The Wolves of St. Peter’s:

"The romantic and somewhat gothic setting of corrupt, Renaissance Rome in 1508 sets the tone for this captivating murder mystery and the writers’ inclusion of humour at key points in the story perfectly balances the dour atmosphere in which the main characters find themselves. I must say that I didn’t solve the mystery myself until it was revealed near the end of the book. This is an immensely satisfying read for fans of historical fiction or Renaissance Italy and the artists of its time that would translate delightfully into a stunning feature film.." --Scully Love Promo