The dark soul of Milan in a noir that pulses with blood and truth.

Milan, 1970s. It's the era of police sirens tearing through the silence of the night, of swift kidnappings, of robberies leaving bodies on the pavement, of failed revolutions, and of the underworld dictating law in the alleys and living rooms. "La vita mala," the new novel by journalists and writers Gianluca Tenti and Pierangelo Sapegno, recounts all this with a rapid pace, an authentic voice, and a narrative power that allows no respite.

Inspired by real events and characters (with names changed for obvious reasons), the novel is published tomorrow, Friday, August 29th, by Neri Pozza (352 pages, €20). "La vita mala" is a dizzying journey into the criminal world of Milan during those years. At its heart is the brutal rise of Dennis Talamone, known as "il Gallo" (the Rooster): from neighborhood thief to undisputed king of the Kingdom of the Night. A ruthless climb, marked by fists, blood, betrayal, and revenge, that drags the reader into the darkest recesses of the city and the human soul.

But "La vita mala" is also the painful story of a broken love and a friendship that turns to hatred. It's an urban tragedy where every choice has a high price and no one is left innocent. A ferocious and desperate humanity revolves around the "Gallo": bandits, hitmen, mafiosi, corrupt police, aggressive journalists, shady priests, fallen women, decadent singers. A vivid and cruel portrait of a world where the line between good and evil has never been so blurred.

Gianluca Tenti and Pierangelo Sapegno, with their taut, precise, and cinematic writing, transform current events into narrative and reality into incandescent matter. Theirs is a true, dirty, and sensual noir. No complacency, no rhetoric: just the dark, unstoppable pulse of the "bad life," the one that drags you down, but from which you can't detach yourself.

With this novel, Milan becomes the undisputed protagonist: not just a setting, but a living, ambiguous, and magnetic character. And the reader remains there, glued page after page, like watching a movie you can't pause. A captivating, unforgettable work. "La vita mala" has every ambition to become a classic of contemporary Italian noir.

(by Paolo Martini)