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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780375707704
ISBN number: 0375707700
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 256
Printing Date: September 12, 2000
Publishing house: Vintage
Release Date: September 12, 2000
Sale Popularity Level: 42226
Studio: Vintage
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
In Cabal, master crime writer Michael Dibdin plunges us into a murky world of church spies, secret societies, cover-ups, and mistaken identities.
An apparent suicide in the Vatican may in fact have been a muder conducted by a centuries-old cabal within The Knights of Columbus. A discovery among the medieval manuscripts of the Vatican Library leads to a second death, Zen travels to Milan, where he faces a final, dramatic showdown. Meanwhile, Zen's lover, the tantalizing Tania, is conducting her own covert operations--which could well jeopardize everything Zen has worked for. Richly textured, wickedly entertaining, Cabal taps the mysterious beauty of Italy in a thriller that challenges our beliefs about love, allegiance, history, and power--and the lengths to which we will go to protect them against the truth.
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Rated by buyers -
In the crowded space of super sleuths solving heinous crimes, its quite a feat to build up recall and Aurelio Zen stands out tall among peers. Zen though rooted in Italy could be transplanted anywhere for the pragmatism of the character. This book is one of the later one in the series of Aurelio Zen's career.
The book itself has a great plot. The death of a prince in the Vatican, leaves the superstructure shaken up and a series of murders leaving a bloody trail of witnesses. The prince is attributed membership of the shadoy group called the Cabal which boasts of key connections and information vital to the Catholic church.Zen is the choice of the Vatican authorities more from a politically expedient perspective rather than a intrinsic belief in his capabilities. Zen largely follows procedures of detection which would be frowned on by authorities, but ends up delivering the goods. Interlaced into the complex tale of detection is Zen's own romance and the politics of the office space which could lead to the death of his reputation. The plot meanders giving ample pace for characterization and the twists come in rapid succession when you least expect them. Though dated in terms of the means used, this is by far a great series, well worth the read.
Rated by buyers -
I really enjoyed my very first experience with, Dibdin's Aurelio Zen. A flawed and very human policeman, who is not above stating a murder was a suicide because that's what the powers that be desire, finds himself drawn into a grand conspiracy despite himself. This is a case where very first impressions are definitely incorrect and despite his misgivings, Zen succeeds in resolving things in a believable, if convoluted fashion. The best part of CABAL is the ease with which Dibdin brings Italy to life. From The Vatican to Milan, the reader is transported with a stunning simplicity, with Dibdin creating a setting that is vivid and characters that come alive. I will definitely have to read Dibdin's other Zen books and I am sorry to hear that the author has passed away. At least he had the opportunity to create such a unique character.
Rated by buyers -
Third in the Aurelio Zen series.
The very first three books in Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen series read very much like a trilogy. The cast of regular characters develope throughout, and previous cases are referred to in subsequent books.
I therefore recommend that you read the series in order.
This book is as well-crafted a mystery as its predecessors. This time Zen is working in the neighbourhood of his long term residence (Rome), but there is much to explore in that city, along with Zen. I was particularly engaged by the 'chase' (on foot) sequence through the Forum.
Rated by buyers -
One dark night in November, Prince Ludovico Ruspanti falls a hundred and fifty feet to his death in St Peter's basilica in Rome. But there are a number of questions to be answered: what was he doing in the Vatican? Why was he being followed? Did he fall or was he pushed? The papal authorities contact the Criminalpol and so Inspector Aurelio Zen is put on the case.
As Zen investigated deeper into the mystery of Ruspanti's death, he finds witness after witness strangely silenced by death. Zen soon discovers that he will never crack the case until he has penetrated the most secret of all secret societies - the Cabal.
The combination between an intriguing twistiness of the mystery story and sharply angled perspectives on contemporary Italy is simply superb.
Michael Tudor Barnes's performance in this audio book is quite stunning!
Rated by buyers -
As poor 50-something Aurelio juggles keeping his life with his new girlfriend, Tania, a secret from his now distressingly mobile mother with the backbiting intrigues that occur on a daily basis at the Criminalpol, he is summoned to the Vatican to assist with the investigation of the murder of a Prince Ludovico Ruspanti, a Knight of Malta, who quite literally tumbled to his death from the basilica's dome. With the tenacity of a pit bull, Zen slowly but surely cuts though the blue tape dealings between the separate bureaucracies of the Vatican and Italy, and dodges encounters with the carbaniari, as he lies his way through the riot of events that follow his compliance with the Vatican to allow the Prince's death to be recorded as a suicide. When he unearths the existence of the "Cabal", a secret organization within the Knights of Malta, the snowball of information Zen has gathered begins an enjoyably fast and by no means boring descent into the world of computer hackers, would-be informants encountered during a high-speed train ride and a strange brother and sister duo ensconced in an old and decaying family house in fashionable Milan.
As in the very first two Zen novels, Aurelio's gritty acceptance of his world's self-absorbed machinations entitles him to use some less than admirable avenues of manipulation to get to the truth and at the same time make life more comfortable for Zen. The most delightful portions of this installment explores the undercurrent of vulnerabity Zen experiences when he uncovers secret organizations within his own existence--- his mother's world no longer revolves around him, and Tania, busily promoting a mail-order gourmet food business, may be two-timing him. I look forward to Zen's further 'adventures' with his women and compliated life in the Eternal City.
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