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!
jimbowen0306's review
3.0
Not that great
There's this joke I know where this driver stops someone and asks for directions, only to be told "Well if I was going there, I wouldn't start from here." I feel the same about the Aurelio Zen series of books. If I had the chance to start the series again, I wouldn't start from here.
The start of the book was very good. Zen is asked to go to the Vatican to investigate a seeming suicide of a jumper from the dome of St. Peter's. The cardinals know people distrust their pronouncements, especially, when it comes notable bankers who helped run their bank (the book is written a little while after Roberto Calvi died, and money and the church bank was the big issue facing the church).
The problem is, as the book goes on, you can guess who the murderer is. He keeps cropping up for no reason I can see, other than reminding people he's there. There aren't many clues, but then there aren't many suspects either, save this shadowy "Cabal" who have been getting up to nefarious wrong doings, according to the deceased.
The other issue I have is it turning into something Benny Hill would write at the end, if he was writing a whodunit. In my mind I was almost hearing that silly Yakety Sax "chase music" he used to use at the end of each episode while Zen chased the bad guys. When that's happening, you know the book/denouement isn't going well.
There's this joke I know where this driver stops someone and asks for directions, only to be told "Well if I was going there, I wouldn't start from here." I feel the same about the Aurelio Zen series of books. If I had the chance to start the series again, I wouldn't start from here.
The start of the book was very good. Zen is asked to go to the Vatican to investigate a seeming suicide of a jumper from the dome of St. Peter's. The cardinals know people distrust their pronouncements, especially, when it comes notable bankers who helped run their bank (the book is written a little while after Roberto Calvi died, and money and the church bank was the big issue facing the church).
The problem is, as the book goes on, you can guess who the murderer is. He keeps cropping up for no reason I can see, other than reminding people he's there. There aren't many clues, but then there aren't many suspects either, save this shadowy "Cabal" who have been getting up to nefarious wrong doings, according to the deceased.
The other issue I have is it turning into something Benny Hill would write at the end, if he was writing a whodunit. In my mind I was almost hearing that silly Yakety Sax "chase music" he used to use at the end of each episode while Zen chased the bad guys. When that's happening, you know the book/denouement isn't going well.
jimbowen0306's review against another edition
3.0
Not that great
There's this joke I know where this driver stops someone and asks for directions, only to be told "Well if I was going there, I wouldn't start from here." I feel the same about the Aurelio Zen series of books. If I had the chance to start the series again, I wouldn't start from here.
The start of the book was very good. Zen is asked to go to the Vatican to investigate a seeming suicide of a jumper from the dome of St. Peter's. The cardinals know people distrust their pronouncements, especially, when it comes notable bankers who helped run their bank (the book is written a little while after Roberto Calvi died, and money and the church bank was the big issue facing the church).
The problem is, as the book goes on, you can guess who the murderer is. He keeps cropping up for no reason I can see, other than reminding people he's there. There aren't many clues, but then there aren't many suspects either, save this shadowy "Cabal" who have been getting up to nefarious wrong doings, according to the deceased.
The other issue I have is it turning into something Benny Hill would write at the end, if he was writing a whodunit. In my mind I was almost hearing that silly Yakety Sax "chase music" he used to use at the end of each episode while Zen chased the bad guys. When that's happening, you know the book/denouement isn't going well.
There's this joke I know where this driver stops someone and asks for directions, only to be told "Well if I was going there, I wouldn't start from here." I feel the same about the Aurelio Zen series of books. If I had the chance to start the series again, I wouldn't start from here.
The start of the book was very good. Zen is asked to go to the Vatican to investigate a seeming suicide of a jumper from the dome of St. Peter's. The cardinals know people distrust their pronouncements, especially, when it comes notable bankers who helped run their bank (the book is written a little while after Roberto Calvi died, and money and the church bank was the big issue facing the church).
The problem is, as the book goes on, you can guess who the murderer is. He keeps cropping up for no reason I can see, other than reminding people he's there. There aren't many clues, but then there aren't many suspects either, save this shadowy "Cabal" who have been getting up to nefarious wrong doings, according to the deceased.
The other issue I have is it turning into something Benny Hill would write at the end, if he was writing a whodunit. In my mind I was almost hearing that silly Yakety Sax "chase music" he used to use at the end of each episode while Zen chased the bad guys. When that's happening, you know the book/denouement isn't going well.
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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