End Games

Michael Dibdin

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9780571246045
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Crime & Mystery Literature
• Index: Literature

'One of Dibdin's finest . . . Wonderful.' EVENING STANDARD
'Energetically and meticulously written.' GUARDIAN

AN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERY

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.

'Clever and exuberantly witty . . . Dibdin is outrageously funny, as always, in conveying Zen's snobby Venetian attitude toward his regional postings.' NEW YORK TIMES
'Ample opportunities for the expression of his dry wit . . . the final entry [in the Zen series] is a very good one indeed.' INDEPENDENT
'One of the genre's best stylists . . . This combination of gritty violence, often wildly funny satire, and wonderful descriptive writing has been the hallmark of Dibdin's Zen novels.' GUARDIAN

'Superbly written thriller.' 5* reader review
'Probably the most enjoyable of the Zen series, it provides an insight of Italy rarely accomplished by any author.' 5* reader review
'Such a good read.' 5* reader review
'Brilliantly plotted, very exciting.' 5* reader review

PRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES:
'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN
'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES
'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN
'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT
'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR
'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell
'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER
'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review
'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review
'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review
'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• The ferocious character of the Barbarians
• The dead man parked his car
• A forkful of food
• Nine and a half thousand kilometres
• ‘Are you happy with the script?’
• ‘So you won’t tell me what you discussed.’
• Jake and Martin met at SooChic
• The flight from Milan
• Ever since he arrived in Cosenza
• The watcher outside Nicola Mantega’s office
• The rotor blades were whirling slowly
• The isolated stone barn
• ‘I calabresi non sanno fare squadra. Tutto lì!
• Jake and Madrona drove up into the mountains
• At seven o’clock precisely
• Aurelio Zen’s journey to the crime scene
• Martin Nguyen held that
• Natale Arnone reappeared in Zen’s office
• The old woman tossed and turned on the lumpy
• Tom Newman stretched his legs luxuriously
• Nicola Mantega was not a particularly
• The four men came to the Nicastro house
• Martin Nguyen’s driver had been unbeatable
• It was another perfect morning in Cosenza
• The spiny dorsal fin of the coast
• Tom Newman felt angry
• For someone whose religious beliefs
• When the papers landed on Zen’s desk
• Splayed out on the bed behind two layers
• After leaving his office exceptionally late
• Aurelio Zen stayed at his desk
• Tom spent much of the morning
• The convoy of vehicles
• Having been detained in Rome
• Enough was enough, thought Emanuele Pancrazi
• Tom Newman was seated up front in Nguyen’s Mercedes
• Three o’clock, the police chief had said
• Since his son had made his own arrangements
• Except for the looming presence of Natale Arnone
• Martin Nguyen was hiding in his room
• Nicola Mantega cracked shortly after four o’clock
• Shortly before noon the next day
• By the time his modified 737
• The Italian Republic – res publica
• Given the constraints on Tom’s time
• Jake was woken by a call from Madrona
• It was in the small hours of the morning
• A terrible thing had occurred
• ‘Car leaves in thirty minutes,’
• The call that Nicola Mantega
• Gheorghe Alecsandri arrived shortly after nine
• A hawk was being harassed by a pack of crows
• . . . unfortunately, but there are many other artefacts
• ‘Congratulations on your demotion!’
• Mirella and Tom were walking up
• Sitting out on the patio of his villa the next morning
• Rocco Battista had only made one mistake
• The helicopter ride was maybe the sweetest moment
• Tom lay on the bed staring up at an intricate pattern
• The trap was set
• Jake dreamt he was flying
• There is a unique flavour of melancholy
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
• By the Same Author
• Copyright