Blood Rain

Warning: This review probably contains spoilers.

In this installment of the Aurelio Zen series, Zen is sent to Sicily on assignment as a "liaison officer" (read as "spy") with the anti-Mafia squad. His job is to report back to Rome on the squad's morale and any signs of discontent. In the meantime, he is also getting to know his adopted daughter, Carla, who works as a computer technician for a company that is bringing the anti-Mafia squad online (or as Dibdin charmingly writes, "on-line") with its own little intranet. Somehow Carla ends up on the radar of the Mafia and Zen himself also becomes entangled in the clan feud.

I hate to say this about a Dibdin novel and a Zen Dibdin novel in particular, but I found this one boring. Perhaps this show more is one of the installments that would have benefitted from my reading the series in order, at least for becoming emotionally invested in some of the characters. I liked seeing Zen finally have some family, but like James Bond, Zen cannot have girls of any kind sticking around for too long. I could see her demise coming a mile off and wasn't particularly upset about it. Any scene involving her kind of dragged, and there were a lot of them in this one. The best part of a Zen book is when he is faced with seemingly insurmountable odds and manages to connive his way back to where he was before and solve the mystery, so the final third of the book was much more to my satisfaction. And even though the ending's impact is somewhat lessened knowing that there is a subsequent installment in the series, I can see how it would have deeply affected the reading public when it was first published.

Overall, I would discourage people from starting the Zen series with this book. Either Ratking or Vendetta would fit the bill nicely. show less

Blood Rain is a novel in Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen mystery series, this time taking place in Sicily. Zen is sent there essentially to spy on the activities of an anti-Mafia squad, an elite corps that may be working without proper authorization in certain circumstances. Once there, he finds himself caught between several different groups of law enforcement officers and those on the other side of the law. His adopted daughter Carla is also in Sicily, assigned to install a new, integrated computer system for the anti-Mafia squad, and she attracts the attention of one of the judges working in the same department, a woman who is always under intense police protection because of the Mafia's propensity for knocking off judges. When Carla show more discovers that someone is infiltrating the new computer system even as she is installing it, she is not sure how to handle it or who to turn to for advice, but advice is something that she - and Zen - desperately needs.... I had previously read the first four Zen novels, but could not find the next two or three (even on Amazon!), so Carla is completely new to me and I found that not having read the entire series made a difference in how I viewed her and what happens to her. Aside from that problem, though, Blood Rain was an exciting and tense read, one that had me so worried at the end of it that I had to immediately search out the next book in the series in order to find out what happens next. Recommended - but definitely try to read the earlier books first! show less

A very different crime novel, set in Sicily where Detective Aurelio Zen has been posted to keep an eye on the various factions within the Anti-Mafia unit. Co-incidentally his daughter is also there installing a new computer network for the Anti-Mafia unit and makes friends with one of the unit's female investigating judges, unwisely as it turns out. It appears to be a very accurate reflection of life in Sicily, well researched and good characterisation.

My wife read this one before me, and commented that it was the goriest. I responded, "Is it set in Sicily?" and she laughed, for it is. Dibdin continues to play with both international and Italian stereotypes about the people of the different regions of Italy. So, we get lots of gore, meetings of powerful men, family feuds and so forth, but we also get a sense of the odd foreignness, to most Italians, of Sicily and Sicilians. I like this series.

Too violent for my taste but then my husband tells me that's because it's set in Sicily. The cliffhanger ending did send me scrambling for the next in the series, though!

I am still reeling from the ending! But I won't spoil it for you - just say that Zen seemed more like himself in this 7th book than he did in the previous one, despite being stationed in Sicily.

One of the best mysteries I have ever read, and certainly the highlight of the Zen series by Dibdin. What a shame he died so young. Although bloody, this can be compared to The Women in White for suspense and sustained interest. Highly recommended.