Thursday, Mar. 19, 2009

Roberto Saviano

AGE: 29
OCCUPATION: Mob muckraker
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0

PRO: His in-depth reporting on the Camorra — a brutal Italian crime regime that claims hundreds of murders each year — yielded the international best seller Gomorrah.

CON: Following death threats, Saviano spent much of the past two years living under government protection. For a crime writer, that's almost like being on the disabled list.