"Journalist Reski personalizes her longtime coverage of the Italian Mafia in this short recent history of the organization.... [E]ngrossing." "Irish Times" "Reski's book, written in an informal, first-person style rather than in academic mode, ... takes readers on a journey through just about all the horror stories that Mafia crime has generated in Italy in the last 30 years." "Financial Times " "A depressing tale of the mafia grip on society.... Reski's reportage colourfully brings to life the sights, smells and sounds of Sicily, highlighting the robustly supportive role given to mafia murderers by their womenfolk.... compelling." "Publishers Weekly"" Intriguing.... Reski continually stresses the Mafia organizations' insidious nature in Italy and abroad as she visits town after town where the mob controls everything from politics to the church.... [H]er expertise is never in doubt." Julia Jenkins, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia, for "Shelf Awareness for Readers" " Reski's sketches of these 'bad guys' and their adversaries are intimate and contemplative, rooted in years of experience. Even while excoriating the actions and influence of the Mafia, she seems to feel respect, even affection, toward certain individuals, revealing a conflicted relationship much like the one she describes between the Italian public and its famous criminal organization.... A quiet poetry lurks in certain turns of phrase and carefully crafted images. "The Honored Society" is an unusually structured view into the strange and powerful world of the Italian Mafia."

Petra Reski was born in Kamen, German in 1958. Having lived in Italy since 1989, she is a widely respected journalist known for her investigative pieces about the Mafia.