Vendetta: An Aurelio Zen Mystery [Large Print]

A very gripping, somewhat dark, mystery. Thankfully, Aurelio Zen has a cat's nine lives. It's a very atmospheric novel, and I plan to read all the Michael Dibdin books I can get my hands on.

No Author will ever replace Mario Puzo; his body of work featuring the Corleone Family is a literary, as well as a cinematic classic. For those readers in search of material that is as excellent in its own way, and takes place entirely in Italy, Michael Dibdin's "Aurelio Zen" series will take its own place in the genre Mr. Puzo introduced to so many readers years ago."Vendetta" is the second book in this series and the setting is Sardinia. A dinner party is interrupted when someone with a shotgun appears, and abruptly ends the evening's festivities. A man who said, "If anyone gets in, I will believe in ghosts", designed the security system. No ghost handles a shotgun, and after Italy's equivalent of SWAT Teams can find no way in, the enigma is set.I have commented at length on why I find Mr. Dibdin to be such a talented writer when I reviewed his newest book "Blood Rain" and his first book "Ratking". I will not be totally repetitive, but I will note that one of the keys to enjoying this Author's work is his ability to sustain your interest with a variety of possible outcomes to the very end. His stories are constructed like a maze, and as Sardinia is a maze both above and below ground, the setting is perfect.A very, very good series!

I was a bit sceptical at first. An Italian detective by a British-American author; sounded like it could be coy or arch. It wasn't. Dibdin writes far beter than most mystery writers. The plot is maybe a tad too too (as my grandmother used to say).Anyway I paln to read more of the Zen books.

Zen is one of the most interesting characters in crime fiction. Corrupt, sometimes inept, full of human weakness - yet somehow likeable. Didbin has a literary flair invisible in most other writers of the genre. Combined with excitement, humour and deep cultural insight, this novel is a classic.

A riveting crime classic replete with irony and intrigue, this fast-paced thriller will keep you in terrifying suspense, as detective Aurelio Zen, characteristically earnest if somewhat inept, bungles his way around Italy to uncover the identity of a mysterious mass-killer. Readers who enjoy fast-action plot will not be disappointed, as they follow Zen's broken-down mercedes through harrowing chase scenes across the rugged Sardinian landscape. The author's sensitive humanitarian touch offsets the vivid and sometimes shocking portrayal of cruelty and revenge in the underworld of organized crime.This finely-crafted novel ranks among the best of our era. Surpassing in suspense even the popular-market fiction of Michael Crichton or John Case, Dibdin's "Vendetta" reaches the highest stratum of literary excellence.