- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday Canada; 1st Canadian Edition edition (April 11 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385258062
- ISBN-13: 978-0385258067
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 14.2 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,159,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Penzler Pick, May 2000: Dibdin's six Aurelio Zen novels (beginning with Ratking, which won the 1988 Golden Dagger Award) are as vividly Italian as if this English writer had never strayed far from the Via Veneto, despite the fact that he has, in fact, been expatriated for several years now to the Pacific Northwest. His hero, a battle-weary but still morally engaged Roman police investigator, is one of the more elegantly vulnerable characters in the genre, a figure who resembles Nicolas Freeling's Inspector Van der Valk in his ability to bring triumph to situations and yet never have them seem like victories. Moreover, like Van der Valk, Zen's greatest talent seems to be for making new enemies among his colleagues.
In Blood Rain, Zen has been exiled to Sicily under the guise of acting as a sort of watchdog, observing a recently reestablished anti-Mafia taskforce. By the nature of the locale--Sicily makes its own rules--the fact that the work of this commission will inevitably be compromised seems clear. But where the cracks in the system will reveal themselves is harder to figure out until, of course, it's too late. Distracted by his dying mother back in Rome and by the island's perverse feuds and even stranger loyalties, and paying not quite enough attention to the professional travails of his beautiful adopted daughter, Carla, a computer specialist, Zen travels his usual idiosyncratic route to a crime's resolution. As always, he is most intrigued by the ambiguities of the situation--and is doomed to be the sacrificial scapegoat.
Dibdin seems to be incapable of writing a bad book, and the Zen novels are his best work. Blood Rain causes the reader to gasp frequently in genuine surprise, as well as in admiration for the way Dibdin accomplishes his effects. The intensity of these sensations is something to be grateful for, since most books these days, even with their ability to shock, make us feel so little. --Otto Penzler
From Booklist
Dibdin's early Aurelio Zen novels (Ratking, Vendetta, Cabal, Dead Lagoon) established the Rome policeman as perhaps the quintessential world-weary European cop: trapped in a corrupt organization, willing to ride with it, but unable to keep himself from antagonizing the bureaucrats around him. What these books deliver is a uniquely hard-edged, no-holds-barred cynicism--light years from the squishy idealism lurking beneath the hard-boiled exteriors of most American detectives. Then the tone of the series changed dramatically, as Dibdin sent Zen on road trips, first to Naples (Cosi Fan Tutti) and then to Piedmont (A Long Finish). In these provincial settings, Zen took on an almost-comic persona; the hard edge was still detectable but only beneath a veneer of opera buffa. This time Dibdin is on the road again, posted to Sicily, but in the heart of organized crime the comic tone disappears, and the world-weary cynicism returns with a vengeance. Zen's nominal assignment, spying on the State Police's anti-Mafia operation for the rival Interior Ministry, is another example of corruption at work, and soon enough, he blunders into a lethal crossfire of power-hungry politicians, bureaucrats, and crime bosses. When his mother dies a suspicious death in Rome, and the woman he considers his daughter is killed in Sicily, Zen must ask himself a familiar question: Will finding the truth only make matters worse? Dibdin has devised all sorts of ironic approaches to this fundamental question, but his answers always amount to yes and no. This time the ambiguity takes on a new and even darker twist, as we are left to ponder whether the surprise ending transforms Zen's last words ("At least we're alive") into the bitterest of ironies. Crime fiction at its multifaceted best. Bill Ott
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't forget the authentic background detail,
By MR JESSE A LAWRENCE "Jess" (Sandy, Bedfordshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Blood Rain: An Aurelio Zen Mystery (Paperback)
Great read.Don't internationalize it too much. For example, Corinna Nunziatella's mother came from some, apparently obscure place called Manchester. Yet, she joked to Carla Arduini that the only time her mother had been abroad was to the Isle of Man. Michael Dibdin sometimes forgets which audience he is addressing -you'd have to be British to appreciate the Isle of Man joke but the reference to Manchester probably appeals to an American audience. I found B. Jones Diary (the film) confused at times. The language, clothes and setting were aimed at the American market at times. Nevertheless,Mr Dibdin's books are wonderful. You can even forgive him for the earth tremor which allows Zen to appear in the May new release. Don't kill him off yet - who knows, Zen could end up in an old people's home eventually and solving mysteries such as who's hogging the Umberto Echo.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Characterization but What About the Story,
By A Customer
This review is from: Blood Rain: An Aurelio Zen Mystery (Paperback)
Blood Rain is a dark and melancholy book that, sadly, only captures a part of the essence of Sicily. However, the part it captures is perfect. In this book, Aurelio Zen is...Aurelio Zen, and he's even more human and fallible than in the six books preceding.Michael Dibdin is certainly a prose master and Blood Rain is a wonderful showcase of that prose. The writing is as smooth as silk and every word and nuance seems to be perfectly placed. While Blood Rain is a wonderful character study of Aurelio Zen, I didn't find it a very suspenseful mystery. In fact, the central mystery in the book seemed to take a definite backseat to the study of Zen. I kept asking myself, "Okay, so when is Dibdin going to write about that body found in the railroad car? And what's it got to do with anything?" I found I had to deduct one star for the thin and not very suspenseful plot, but Blood Rain is still a wonderful book that is also highly atmospheric and one that lovers of Italy will adore.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Your Usual Crime Fiction,
By gresh00 "gresh00" (Mansfield, TX United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Blood Rain: An Aurelio Zen Mystery (Paperback)
Didbin writes in a very dreamily descriptive way, a style uncommon to most detective novels. After reading this book, I want to hop on a plane for Sicily (Mafia apprehensions and all), just to see first hand what the author writes about. The pace is tense, and, as should be the case with all good novels, is impossible to put down until the very end. The end, by the way, is the most dramatic aspect. The twist ending is not of the usual far fetched detective fare, where you find out so and so is still alive, or the best friend is the real killer, etc.. but of eerie realism-- (and reading through some of the other reviews, I don't think I'm spoiling this for anyone) the hero of six previous novels, Detective Aurelio Zen, is killed. The somewhat somber ending in no part takes away, (if anything it enhances) the power and valueness of the story. Brilliant read.
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