BloodBusters

What if taxes were paid through blood withdrawals? What if tax evasion was a crime punishable with imprisonment and enforced by the Bloodbusters? What if donating blood was illegal? In a grotesque Rome, BloodBuster Alan Costa falls in love with Anissa Malesano, a compulsive donor for AN underworld organisation who gives her blood to anyone in need. As a web of deceit and treachery spreads wide around Alan, he begins to wonder if he can trust his colleagues or even his own boss. When Anissa is jailed for tax evasion, Alan is faced with a choice that could cost him everything. Winner of the Urania Award "Full of savage humour, Francesco Verso imagines a tax system in Italy based upon blood. Amazingly this has nothing to do with actual zombies (to bend a bit the word 'actual'). Weirdly, BloodBusters is plausible and powerfully written, a high- spirited page-turner thanks to a great translation by Sally McCorry. Definitely this is the book to read after a holiday in Rome (though maybe not before). I shan't forget in a hurry Verso's Intravenous Revenue or the haemergency sirens and flashers of the taxbulance." Ian Watson, author of the screen story for Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence