Bestselling Author Holds Book Signing at Eastchester Library

Over 25 fans visited the Eastchester Public Library on Wednesday night for a book signing with internationally acclaimed author Lorenzo Carcaterra in support of his latest thriller, Midnight Angels.

The crowd listened curiously and laughed at Carcaterra's many outrageous anecdotes, including retracing Michelangelo's footsteps in Florence as he prepared for the novel.

Following an introduction by library director Tracy Wright, members of the library's Mystery Club and other admirers rushed to purchase autographed copies of Midnight Angels and ask its author questions that ranged from Law and Order filming locations to the definition of an e-book.

"So many of us here love a good thriller," said Katie, an Eastchester native in attendance. "We're very excited to have Lorenzo here tonight."

Carcaterra, who received his start as a journalist with the New York Daily News, relayed tales surrounding the creation of his latest effort, including encounters with crafty concierges, tourists at laundromats, the debonair Carabinieri Art Squad and Michelangelo's petite slippers. After the first of four trips to Italy, Carcaterra returned to New York with a plot in mind.

In Midnight Angels, the novel's titular criminal ring is on a quest to retrieve three missing Michelangelo sculptures before the virtuous Vittoria Society, who aims to return them to their rightful owners.

Carcaterra's eighth literary release is like an off-speed pitch compared to previous work on police thrillers and legal dramas, which included a stretch with Law and Order and his oft-lauded bestseller Sleepers.

Fans of Carcaterra will also note the change of scenery. Midnight Angels trades the grimy New York City grid-system for the cobblestone pathways of Florence. Carcaterra quipped that although he was born American, he was conceived in Italy, and claims a 1968 visit as a troubled adolescent gave new direction to his life.

"Midnight Angels is personal because Italy means so much to me," explained Carcaterra. "Visiting at fifteen changed my life for the better. I had an uncle take me where Dante wrote the Inferno and Michelangelo's house, so I felt I needed to get everything right."

While Midnight Angels is very fond of Michelangelo, the next addition to the series, tentatively titled The Curse of Monte Cristo, tackles French writer Alexandre Dumas. Like Angels, the thriller promises a coalescence of art history and crime thousands of miles away from Manhattan.

"I'll return to the cop novels eventually," said Carcaterra. "It's not that I'm tired but you get into that lazy kind of trap where you know [your line of work] so well you think you can just knock it out in 6 or 7 months. I gave this novel everything I had and then some, and I'm very proud of it."

While half a year may seem unusually fast for novels extending past 300 pages, Carcaterra credits his background in journalism for remaining unruffled despite pending deadlines. In addition to covering the entertainment beat at the New York Daily News, Carcaterra served as senior writer at Time, Inc and frequently contributes to publications like The National Geographic Traveler, who is presenting the first three e-chapters of Midnight Angels via their July/August iPad issue.

"The newspaper stuff helps you, too," said Carcaterra. "People don't intimidate you after a while, and you learn how to ask a lot of questions, which is important when you're out researching for a novel."

During the signing, Carcaterra hinted at the possibility of seeing Midnight Angels on the silver screen, revealing he is weighing four solid offers from reputable Hollywood producers. Carcaterra will have time to consider these offers with his wife at the couple's Maine timeshare during a well-deserved respite next month. Carcaterra also insinuated why he wouldn't' be traveling to Italy for the summer to revisit some of his favorite Florentine attractions, instead.

"There is no baseball in Italy," said Carcaterra. "If they had baseball, I'd live there."