"Although he was promoted to the Criminalpol section of the Italian Ministry of the Interior after his (moderate) success with the Miletti kidnapping/murder (described in Ratking), Aurelio Zen isn't much better off. His mom is still living with him, his American divorcee girlfriend has gone back to the U.S., and most of his colleagues are wary of him. Vincenzo Fabri, a rival detective on the make, clearly wants him to fail (and may even be setting him up). Worse, someones tailing him in a stolen red Alfa Romeo, and someone's trying to break into his apartment.
Billionaire contractor Oscar Burolo was gunned down by a shotgun along with several guests to his huge villa on Sardinia, where the security system is like a fortress. Seedy political fixer Renato Favelloni, a go-between for Burolo and a prominent Italian politician, has been arrested for the murders, but Zen is sent to Sardinia to frame somebody else (the young man who takes care of the lions on the grounds and has been videotaped by Burolo having wild sex with the billionaire's wife) and get Favelloni cleared. Zen gets right off to a bad start when a video of the murders -- captured by the extensive security camera system in the villa -- is stolen from him after he's borrowed it to study.
Zen ships off to Sardinia, where the poor mountain village locals hate Italians, especially police and government officials. He'll have to break the case without irritating his superiors who intended something else, escape a killer he mistakenly put in jail 20 years ago based on a police informant's lying testimony, and deal with a jealous husband who is convinced Zen is having an affair with a younger female colleague! This 1991 thriller is the second in Dibdin's Aurelio Zen series."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of Vendetta
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 20% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- Dry-cynical
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
Kind of investigator
- police procedural, Foreign
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- squabbling with fellow investigator(s)/police boss
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race
- Italian
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- killer
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- wild
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
The antagonists are:
- foreign organized crime
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Italy
Mountains/Cliffs
Yes
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- hostile, like Gomer Pyle on steroids
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies
How many deaths?
- 5-7
Unusual forms of death
- perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
