Born in Rome in 1967, he is one of the leading exponents of the Italian tradition of investigative journalism. A deputy editor and investigative journalist at "La Repubblica," he began as a reporter at Luigi Pintor's "il Manifesto" in the mid-1980s. He worked in the editorial staff of "Newsweek" in New York in the mid-1990s and then in Milan for "Corriere della Sera" before arriving at "La Repubblica" in January 2001. He is an author and screenwriter, many of his books have become films, among them, Acab and Suburra (with Giancarlo De Cataldo), the latter also becoming the first Italian series produced by Netflix. In 2025, to coincide with the release of the new Feltrinelli edition of ACAB, the eponymous series based on the novel will be released on Netflix. 
His books are translated in several countries around the world.

ACAB (New Feltrinelli Edition, 2025)
Il corpo del reato (New Feltrinelli Edition, 2021)
Ti mangio il cuore (with Giuliano Foschini, Feltrinelli, 2019)
L’Isola Assassina. La sfida di Daphne al cuore corrotto dell’Europa. (Feltrinelli, 2018)
Il corpo del reato (Feltrinelli, 2016) – Audiobook available su Audible
La notte di Roma (with Giancarlo De Cataldo, Einaudi, 2015)
I semi del male (with Sandrone Dazieri, Giancarlo De Cataldo, Marcello Fois, Bruno Morchio, Enrico Pandiani, Feltrinelli, 2014)
Suburra (with Giancarlo De Cataldo, Einaudi, 2013)
ACAB (Einaudi, 2009)
Il mercato della paura (with Giuseppe D’Avanzo, Einaudi, 2006)
Guantanamo (Einaudi, 2004)
Un paese una cooperativa un uomo (with Luigi Paganelli, Mucchio, 2002)
La toga rossa (con Francesco Misiani, Tropea, 1998)