“Fulsome and vapid, laden with insincere warmth and hidden barbs, his speech had nevertheless left no legitimate grounds for complaint."
In a time where COVID is destroying our ability to take
exciting European vacations, or let’s face it any overseas travel, the first
Aurelio Zen novel is the closest thing. The world lost a great talent in 2007
when Dibdin died at the rather young age of sixty. His ability to recreate the
bureaucracy and feeling of living in Italy is almost teleportational. This was
definitely the closest I was getting to Italy this year.
Aurelio Zen is not your typical hero. He’s grumpy,
jaded, has issues at home and his career is in the toilet. The opportunity to
transfer to Perugia from his desk job at the State Police in Rome to work on a
kidnapping case is one he jumps at, little suspecting he is merely a pawn in a
larger game.
Corruption, intrigue and murder follow. The title refers
to (according to Wikipedia)
In a time where COVID is destroying our ability to take
exciting European vacations, or let’s face it any overseas travel, the first
Aurelio Zen novel is the closest thing. The world lost a great talent in 2007
when Dibdin died at the rather young age of sixty. His ability to recreate the
bureaucracy and feeling of living in Italy is almost teleportational. This was
definitely the closest I was getting to Italy this year.
Aurelio Zen is not your typical hero. He’s grumpy, jaded, has issues at home and his career is in the toilet. The opportunity to transfer to Perugia from his desk job at the State Police in Rome to work on a kidnapping case is one he jumps at, little suspecting he is merely a pawn in a larger game.
Corruption, intrigue and murder follow. The title refers to (according to Wikipedia)
The pictures on that link may turn your stomach
(you have been warned dear reader). Weirdly, this phenomenon was reflected in
another novel I’ve read recently, The Rats. In any case, I’m done with rats
for the year. Here however the title refers to the interconnectedness of all
the power players that Zen will have to understand in order to unravel the
truth.
I’ve just discovered that the novel was made into a TV series with the rather attractive Rufus Sewell in the titular role. I imagined someone who had eaten a lot more pasta and was a little more ‘lived in’, but I’m willing to give it a go. Apparently, there were only three episodes made and then it was cancelled, which doesn’t bode well.
As soon as I finished the last page, I ordered the
next two novels in the series. I need more Zen in my life clearly and this
could be the only way I experience Italy up close for quite some time.
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