Cabal: An Aurelio Zen Mystery

by Michael Dibdin

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375707700
• ISBN13: 9780375707704
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

The mysterious world of the Vatican

Third in the Aurelio Zen series. The 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.

Intrigue Stretching from the Vatican to Milan

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 red 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 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.

The Man Who Was Giovedì

Dibdin's Italy is brilliantly realized -- not just the usual glamor-and-girls depiction of Italy from a million movies and schlock thrillers, but the realities of quotidien middle-class life, especially in the bloated public sector. Ministries operate with half their staff absent and the other half running import-export businesses from their desks on the side. Bribery, apathy, incompetence and venality are rife. Through it all trudges Aurelio Zen, trying to stitch together the pieces of a mystery that begins with a man falling to oblivion onto the centre of Catholicism's universe, and ends with another man doing the same onto Rome's material and commercial center.Perhaps these, and other, pieces of symbolism are a little heavy; perhaps not. Some of the characters, for sure, seem larger-than-life to the point of cliché: Zen's Rich Friend Who Can Do Anything, for example; the narcissistic "Falco" and the obligatory teenage hacker who exists as a grotesque parody of the archetype. But along the way there's a compelling, fascinating mystery plot that entertains as long as it exists, and, when all the interlinked, implausible conspiracies reach their almost banal, yet entirely satisfying, climax.

For now the tour of Italy is complete.

"Cabal" was the last of the Aurelio Zen mysteries that I had not read. Now that I have, I can state the body of work taken as a whole is great. As in any group of books some are stronger than others, but none will disappoint. About the only complaint I have is that some of the individual works could have been of greater length. Some were perfectly finished in their relatively brief form, but some like "Cabal", could have benefited from having more time to tell their story.Mr. Dibdin is a great writer, and I have read all but one of his non "Aurelio" books, and they too are worthwhile. I have reviewed them all, so I will minimize general comments here. I read the books out of sequence, and while there were some references to previous books, there was nothing so fundamental that it detracted from whatever book I was reading. I actually started with "Blood Rain" which is the newest of Mr. Dibdin's works.The series takes place all over Italy, and "Cabal" takes place primarily in Rome with the central event, taking place at The Vatican. In addition to the intrigue that often surrounds stories of this small Country, Mr. Dibdin adds the Knights Of Malta, The Cabal, and centuries old Families of Italy to this mystery. The contemporary world of Italian Fashion, Aurelio girlfriend's moonlighting, and Aurelio's temptations to a darker side when he feels he is loosing his girl, all make for fun reading, although I believe with more time the book could have developed more completely. There was a great deal happening in this book, and it feels as though it was compressed into its final size.Mr. Dibdin is a great writer, and this series is without qualification reading time well spent. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Cabal rocks

A bloody, shocking horror story, and I mean that in the best way. This book has a fresh plot and interesting characters, excellent writing for a horror novel.