Roberto Saviano to leave Italy

Roberto Saviano (pictured), author of the book that inspired the award-winning movie Gomorrah, is preparing to flee Italy after discovering that there is a plan to assassinate him by Christmas. The author is taking the claim seriously because the clan said to be behind it are based at Casal di Principe, outside Naples, where Saviano grew up. He believes they have more reason than anyone to carry out an "honour killing".

Since the publication of his book Gomorrah, which exposed the local business connections of the Camorra, a Naples-based mafia gang, he has been under constant police protection, guarded by a team of seven paramilitary carabinieri. However, since the release of the film, the death threats have intensified.

He said: "I shall leave Italy, at least for a period and then we'll see. I want a life. I want a home. I want to fall in love. I want to [be able to] drink a beer in public, go to a bookshop and choose a book after browsing the back cover," Saviano said. "I want to go for a walk, enjoy the sun, walk in the rain and see my mother without fear - and without frightening her. I'm only 28 years old for fuck's sake."

He is, perhaps, a victim of his own success. When the book was released two years ago it became a runaway success in Italy, where it has sold more than 1m copies. The film of the book is Italy's official candidate for an Oscar.

He told the Italian daily La Repubblica that the conditions in which he was forced to live – he is confined to a police barracks - were also having a wholly unexpected effect. "In private I become an unlovely person - suspicious, wary and, yes, mistrustful to a completely irrational degree,” he said. “I think that everyone wants to steal something from me, or at least trick me - use me. It is as if my humanity had been impoverished.