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outcolder's review against another edition
3.0
It just gets sillier and sillier until it seems like a parody of the first two books. There was some interesting stuff about the jurisdictional weirdness between Italy and the Vatican at the beginning, and some cool curia characters, but then, like I said, it gets very silly. Comedy of errors, a goofball fashionista, bizarrely complicated murders, and then a cuh-razy aristocrat with a doll collection... did he steal that from Raj Kapoor's 1973 film Bobby? Which is not to say that I didn't like it. I did. Just not as much as the first two.
cathybruce208's review against another edition
2.0
I love mystery stories set in exotic locations, but this book left me a little cold. Mr. Dibdin's Rome seems like a maze of traffic, bureaucracy, and corruption.
The mystery starts out with a promising premise, a well-connected member of the aristocracy falls from the dome of St. Peters. Was it suicide or murder? The Vatican, worried about the appearance of impropriety, calls the local authorities to "sign off" on the judgement of suicide. Enter Dottore Aurelio Zen, who is unlucky enough to be on call that night.
Maybe I'm used to American-style mysteries, but it doesn't seem like anyone is competent or cares very much about solving this mystery. They seem more preoccupied with avoiding inconvenience or blame. The mystery goes to places you don't expect, and I was genuinely surprised by the identity of the killer.
One nice touch that I want to mention: SPOILER ALERT!! The book begins and ends with very similar scenes. In the opening scene, a man falls to his death in St. Peter's, the very center of the Christian universe, a temple dedicated to the spiritual side of life. In the last scene, a man falls to his death in the middle of a shopping mall, a "temple" dedicated to commerce and capitalism. Maybe Dibdin was trying to make a statement with this book about the tension between the sacred and the profane that defines modern Rome. Anyway, interesting book, but I'm not sure I want to spend anymore time in Dottore Zen's Rome.
The mystery starts out with a promising premise, a well-connected member of the aristocracy falls from the dome of St. Peters. Was it suicide or murder? The Vatican, worried about the appearance of impropriety, calls the local authorities to "sign off" on the judgement of suicide. Enter Dottore Aurelio Zen, who is unlucky enough to be on call that night.
Maybe I'm used to American-style mysteries, but it doesn't seem like anyone is competent or cares very much about solving this mystery. They seem more preoccupied with avoiding inconvenience or blame. The mystery goes to places you don't expect, and I was genuinely surprised by the identity of the killer.
One nice touch that I want to mention: SPOILER ALERT!! The book begins and ends with very similar scenes. In the opening scene, a man falls to his death in St. Peter's, the very center of the Christian universe, a temple dedicated to the spiritual side of life. In the last scene, a man falls to his death in the middle of a shopping mall, a "temple" dedicated to commerce and capitalism. Maybe Dibdin was trying to make a statement with this book about the tension between the sacred and the profane that defines modern Rome. Anyway, interesting book, but I'm not sure I want to spend anymore time in Dottore Zen's Rome.
sprior's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
elizafiedler's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
ericgaryanderson's review against another edition
4.0
Michael Dibdin writes compact, tightly-plotted mysteries set in and around the mean streets, sleazy docks, and upscale environs of urban Italy. CABAL's a Rome and Vatican novel, which opens with a rousing, fall-from-the-top-of-St-Peter's death and zips onward from there. Like the other Dibdin novel I read this summer, CABAL clocks in at just about 250 pages: Dibdin is really good at compressing 350-page plots into 250 pages without making the narrative feel or seem any less densely textured. This means that he happily violates some of the expectations of the genre: key moments in the mystery plot can blow right by without much fanfare or explanation, and some of the characters remain enigmatic cameos. That's a good thing, so far as I'm concerned, but at least with this book, the pacing of the ending felt a bit off to me. It sort of slows down and then speeds up in ways that don't quite work. Still, a good read, and a much, much better Vatican novel than anything by Dan Brown!
writerlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Right until the end you are not quite sure if you believe what Didbin is showing you. I liked the whole approach Didbin took with the tale of deceit, betrayal, false testimony and the power of appearances.
Zen finds himself involves in a labyrinth of lies and half truths trying to find the bad guys of the tale. We go along for the ride and it's an enjoyable one.
Zen finds himself involves in a labyrinth of lies and half truths trying to find the bad guys of the tale. We go along for the ride and it's an enjoyable one.
5wamp_creature's review against another edition
4.0
Gets more done in 300 pp than most authors in 1000. There are many brilliant scenes within: the first death, the train tunnel, the finale. Is Zen truly so morally ambiguous ?
darwin8u's review
3.0
"Nothing had changed. Nothing ever would. In sheer frustration he fired his pistol again and again, blasting away as though to punch new stars in the sky."
-- Michael Dibdin, Cabal
Dibdin writes tight little Italian mysteries that are blessed with one huge plus -- Aurelio Zen. He seems to be a direct descendent of both Father Brown and Inspector Montalbano (or Philip Marlowe).
Zen is an Italian anti-hero detective. A skilled and savvy investigator with a morality that seems at times to be just a bit fluid. He would prefer to be left alone but is often thrust into cases that require him to walk the delicate wire between the treachery of Italian bureaucracy and the mendacity of the Italian criminals and conspiracies he is tasked with solving (the detective trying to solve crimes while also dealing with an inept bureaucracy is also found and fascinatingly explore by [a:James Church|9548|James Church|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] in his North Korean "Inspector O" novels).
Zen is a kind and likable weasel, a jaded fox, a middle-aged divorcee living with his mother. He is easy to identify and feel sympathetic with. Quite often he kind of deserves our sympathy.
This just isn't the strongest book I've read so far in the series (I've now read the first four). It ends too quick, and seems to fall too hard at both ends. There are moments of genius and movements of boredom, yet like Zen, the reader seems left at the end with very little payoff for all his/her efforts.
-- Michael Dibdin, Cabal
Dibdin writes tight little Italian mysteries that are blessed with one huge plus -- Aurelio Zen. He seems to be a direct descendent of both Father Brown and Inspector Montalbano (or Philip Marlowe).
Zen is an Italian anti-hero detective. A skilled and savvy investigator with a morality that seems at times to be just a bit fluid. He would prefer to be left alone but is often thrust into cases that require him to walk the delicate wire between the treachery of Italian bureaucracy and the mendacity of the Italian criminals and conspiracies he is tasked with solving (the detective trying to solve crimes while also dealing with an inept bureaucracy is also found and fascinatingly explore by [a:James Church|9548|James Church|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] in his North Korean "Inspector O" novels).
Zen is a kind and likable weasel, a jaded fox, a middle-aged divorcee living with his mother. He is easy to identify and feel sympathetic with. Quite often he kind of deserves our sympathy.
This just isn't the strongest book I've read so far in the series (I've now read the first four). It ends too quick, and seems to fall too hard at both ends. There are moments of genius and movements of boredom, yet like Zen, the reader seems left at the end with very little payoff for all his/her efforts.
gobbolino's review
5.0
via Listening Books charity (audiobooks for people who find reading paper books or text too difficult) www.listening-books.org.uk
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