Diablerie

Although not as good as his Easy Rawlins series, Diablerie is still a compelling read true to Mosley’s smart writing and complex characters. Through the main character of Ben Dibbuk, Mosley yet again exploits the dark side of human nature by taking us on a journey through Dibbuk’s past as he tries to uncover a deep, buried secret in which he may be a murderer. This is a short (only 180 pages), daring and intense novel where Mosley mixes crime fiction, human psychology and even a bit of pornography.

Ben Dibbuk is a middle aged computer programer with a wife, daughter and mistress. He also has an alcoholic past which comes back to haunt him when an woman he meets claims to know him and accuses him of a murder he can't remember, but fears he may have committed. The personal stories and relationships of the characters are deftly woven into the plot and the writing moves along gracefully.

Walter Mosley, who is most famous for his Easy Rawlins mysteries, has written a modern, icy, noir novel. The victim is a nondescript, dispassionate computer programmer who's past life as a violent alcoholic has caught up with him in the form of a woman who witnessed him murder a rival lover. Or did she? This short (180 pages) had me up all night; alas, the ending was not satisfying or typical for this genre.

Meh. I read the blurb, and it sounded so good. Right off the bat, I hated the main character. I could not identify with him, and he seemed so frigid and an all around jerk. But I pressed forward, wanting to know what was going on. There was a lot of sex, some of which I thought did not really need to be in the book. The whole lead of the book is "did he or didn't he?" and Mosely leads you on to wonder if this main character (Ben) is sick in the head, or just gets turned on by "taboo" things.
Diablerie is shallow. All of the characters are flat, and when the author made an attempt to explain why Ben is the way he is, it is hard to even find an ounce of sympathy. On top of it all, most of the characterd are broken and dead inside, show more desperate for love, and even though it should be a feeling most people can relate to, it is just too difficult to connect with anyone in the book. Very disappointing. show less

Very disappointed in this book. I've read many other books by this author and found this one lacking in many areas. The characters were flat -- I did not have feelings for any of them. I'm not one to mind sex in a book as long as it has something to do with the story. The constant sex in this book makes me think all the characters were on viagra and the acts were more sexual abuse than acts of love.

Not the usual Walter Mosley. Pretty light reading. Based on the build up, I expected a better ending. I was into it because I couldn't identify with the main character. I kept trying to figure out what was up with him. Glad the book was short.

Okay, usually I would write an in depth, thoughtful review. But all I can say is this: WORST. BOOK. EVER. The author spends 90% of the novel working up a decent, if rather sexually deviant, plot and then it's like he ran out of time.

"Oh, shite! The book needs to be published next week, you say?" - Mosley
"Actually, Walter, it was due two days ago. If we don't have the manuscript tomorrow, I'm only paying you $5 for this work." - Editor
"Alrighty, then. I'll have it on your desk at 9 a.m." - Mosley

Then he apparently spent the next hour and twenty minutes or so finishing the novel so he could still get a decent night's sleep. Everything was concluded with a "Then this happened, and this situation with this bad person was resolved, and show more everyone is happy, oh! and a quick dream sequence to wrap up the mystery of the book as well, the end" type of chapter.

Extraordinarily disappointing. show less