End Games (Aurelio Zen) - Softcover

Dibdin, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571270891 ISBN 13: 9780571270897

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2011

Synopsis

The dead man followed the track until it rose above the last remaining trees and ceased to be a rough line of beaten earth and scruffy grass, to become a stony ramp hewn out of the cliff face and deeply rutted by the abrasive force of ancient iron-rimmed cart wheels. By now il morto was clearly suffering, but he struggled on, pausing frequently to gasp for breath before tackling another stretch of the scorched rock on which the soles of his feet left bloody footprints.

Aurelio Zen's final case brings him to remote town of Calabria, at the toe of Italy's boot, on what is supposed to be a routine assignment: the death of a scout for an American film company. But the case is complicated by a group of dangerous strangers who have arrived to uncover another local mystery - buried treasure - and who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. The case rapidly spirals out of control, and Zen must penetrate the code of silence in the tight-knit community in order to solve the crime.

If you enjoyed the Inspector Zen Mystery series you may also like The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, another crime novel by Michael Dibdin.

About this title

Review

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. This is it -- the final Aurelio Zen novel, now that death has claimed the Italian copper’s talented creator, Michael Dibdin. End Games is a fitting finale to a remarkable series of books, in which Dibdin developed the character of his difficult but tenacious Italian policeman and, inter alia, gave readers a vivid and atmospheric picture of the whole of Italy in all its splendour, colour and corruption.

This last book transports Zen to far-flung Calabria for what she appears to be a by-the-numbers assignment. But in this close-mouthed, inhospitable place, Zen discovers that there is a worm at the heart of a community and secrets that reach back over centuries. A savage killing has taken place, and investigations are compromised by the presence of people from other countries in search of a buried treasure.

In the past, Dibdin ensured that Zen repeatedly came up against a wall of silence, but none more implacable than that he encounters here. As the detective slowly but surely peels away the layers of mystery and obfuscation, he is forced to confront the very basis of the concepts by which he has tried to maintain his career: honesty, a sense of justice and firm notions of right and wrong. As always with this writer, the sense of locale is conjured up with maximum vividness, and the final effect of reading the book that writes finis to the careers of both Aurelio Zen and the man who created him is twofold: we are grateful that this final entry is a distinguished one, but saddened that we will never again go down those mean Italian streets that Zen led us down – at least not with Michael Dibdin as our guide... --Barry Forshaw

Review

"Brims with clever reveals, elegant imagery, elaborate word play, violent shocks, refined and ribald jokes. . . . Something different from the ordinary detective story."--"The Wall Street Journal" "A sterling example of why both Dibdin and Zen will be sorely missed on the crime fiction front."--"The Boston Globe" "Clever and exuberantly witty. . . . Captures . . . the Italian national character in all its unruly glory."--"The New York Times ""A terrific stylist, prolific and protean. . . . The story is a fitting conclusion to a career that ended too soon."--"The Seattle Times" "Didbin's Italy-based Aurelio Zen tales are among the best in the mystery genre." --"The Boston Globe ""Didbin has an abundance of gifts: bracing wit, the ability to wring unexpected poignance out of dark comedy, and a gift for striking imagery." --"The Wall Street Journal ""Didbin belongs to that hierarchy of innovative stylists who make it a point of honor never to repeat a singal trick." --"The New York Times Book Review ""Didbin's work deserves comparison with such...giants as Raymond Chandler." --"The Oregonian ""Didbin is esential reading for those who love mysteries and Italy without illusions." --"The Washington Post" "From the Hardcover edition." "Supremely talented and enormously witty." -- "Globe and Mail" "One of an elite cadre of crime fiction writers for whom literary critics break out all of their favorite adjectives." -- "January Magazine" "Michael Dibdin's policiers are more addictive than crack cocaine." -- "The Guardian" (U.K.) "[Dibdin] remains a class act, his vignettes of Italy as sharp as ever, his laconic hero impossible to resist." -- "Sunday Telegraph" (U.K.) " Supremely talented and enormously witty. " -- Globe and Mail " One of an elite cadre of crime fiction writers for whom literary critics break out all of their favorite adjectives. " -- January Magazine " Michael Dibdin ' s policiers are more addictive than crack cocaine. " -- The Guardian (U.K.) " [Dibdin] remains a class act, his vignettes of Italy as sharp as ever, his laconic hero impossible to resist. " -- Sunday Telegraph (U.K.) " Supremely talented and enormously witty." -- "Globe and Mail" " One of an elite cadre of crime fiction writers for whom literary critics break out all of their favorite adjectives." -- "January Magazine" " Michael Dibdin' s policiers are more addictive than crack cocaine." -- "The Guardian" (U.K.) " [Dibdin] remains a class act, his vignettes of Italy as sharp as ever, his laconic hero impossible to resist." -- "Sunday Telegraph" (U.K.)

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0571270891
• ISBN 13: 9780571270897
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480