Dimiter

by William Peter Blatty

William Peter Blatty has thrilled generations of readers with his iconic mega-bestseller The Exorcist . Now Blatty gives us Dimiter , a riveting story of murder, revenge, and suspense. Laced with themes of faith and love, sin and forgiveness, vengeance and compassion, it is a novel in the grand tradition of Morris West’s The Devil’s Advocate and the Catholic novels of Graham Greene.

Dimiter opens in the world’s most oppressive and isolated totalitarian Albania in the 1970s. A prisoner suspected of being an enemy agent is held by state security. An unsettling presence, though subjected to unimaginable torture he maintains an eerie silence. He escapes---and on the way to freedom, completes a mysterious mission. The prisoner is Dimiter, the American “agent from Hell.”

The scene shifts to Jerusalem, focusing on Hadassah Hospital and a cast of engaging, colorful the brooding Christian Arab police detective, Peter Meral; Dr. Moses Mayo, a troubled but humorous neurologist; Samia, an attractive, sharp-tongued nurse; and assorted American and Israeli functionaries and hospital staff. All become enmeshed in a series of baffling, inexplicable deaths, until events explode in a surprising climax.

Told with unrelenting pace, Dimiter ’s compelling, page-turning narrative is haunted by the search for faith and the truths of the human condition. Dimiter is William Peter Blatty's first full novel since the 1983 publication of Legion .

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

William Peter Blatty was an American writer and filmmaker. He wrote the novel The Exorcist (1971) and the subsequent screenplay version for which he won an Academy Award. Born and raised in New York City, Blatty received his bachelor's degree in English from the Georgetown University in 1950, and his master's degree in English literature from the George Washington University in 1954. He also wrote and directed the sequel "The Exorcist III". Some of his other notable works are the novels Elsewhere (2009), Dimiter (2010) and Crazy (2010).
Sourced from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps you should never dare write the definitive blockbuster novel. William Peter Blatty is a prime example of this. With "The Exorcist" he's cemented his bold name in blood, landing firmly in both cinematic & literary worlds. For all his novels, even "Dimiter" pale in comparison to the demonic possession that has gripped the psyche of the modern western world, taking it hostage for the following four decades and counting. (So what was the world like before "The Exorcist"?)

After the greatest horror show on earth, what's possibly left? A very difficult, rocky, horror-genre-bending terrain. "Dimiter" is atmospheric in that much-beloved Shirley Jackson way, but with a more jarring feel of dread, which is less about the minutiae of the everyday than the terribly largely biblical. Like "Legion" before it (the unofficial sequel to Regan's story that's very hard to find), this one is built around hospital wings & churches in the 70's middle east. It is a thesis, in my mind, of why the land seems cursed in modern terms, why people can transcend time to create a world of (significant, majestic, true) terror.

[Conor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. It wrestles with themes and questions of faith, evil, redemption, etc. Blatty, the author of The Exorcist, calls this his most personally important book of his career. The book drew me in and held my interest, but the prose was stilted at times and often turgid. Take this line: "A waiting silence almost deeper than God's was broken only by the quiet cooing of a dove in one of the apertures just about the level of the streets outside that were aglow with promises of late morning sunlight sifting down at an angel to the shadowy floor" (pp. 271-272). Examples like this abound in the book. It is too bad because Blatty obviously has the chops to do first-rate work.

Also, the plot line and characters are a bit jumbled and it can become easy to get confused with all the new characters and how they related to each other.

The book is certainly a page turner. I really wanted to like this book more. Unfortunately, I just can't say that it was great.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I became interested in reading this book due to the ridiculous range of reviews on Amazon along with the impassioned-to-the-point-of-insulting conversations supporting them. I haven't read The Exorcist, believe it or not, but I have seen the movie, which Blatty penned.

Blatty calls this book the most important work of his career and says in interviews that he will never be able to top it. That's a shame. Self-deprecating doubt can be a good thing for a writer. You end the first draft thinking the thing is a load of crap and spend the rewrites trying to give the turd a presentable polish. By the time you are done, you realize it was never as bad as you thought it was. Unfortunately for Blatty, it works in reverse. If you thought it was amazing, you were wrong about that, too.

I listened to this book over two days on a car trip. Blatty could not have had a more captive audience than a man on a solitary trek through eight hours of Missouri/Iowa interstates. Blatty loves this book. He savors his own words and at times I could almost hear him drooling over his passages. Yet, there were several times I had to rewind the book because I had zoned him out. Not a good sign for a "thriller."

The most frustrating thing about this book is its constant alternating of brilliance and ineptitude. All of those reviewers who say this book is beautifully written are right. All of those who say it is crap are just as correct. Certain passages are brilliant, yet some of the prose is a Barney shade of purple. If I had a nickel for every overly-used adverb, I would have as much money as William Peter Blatty. The vibrant characters leap of the page, but then they do nothing. Blatty knows everything about the characters and has a tendency to make sure you do, as well. Dialogue becomes overly expository. Characters get involved in random activities that that don't advance the plot in any way.

And the plot, ah, the plot. The prologue is more interesting than the rest of the book in its entirety, and despite an interesting twist at the end, Blatty can't help but show it off again with the Scooby-Doo reveal, as the surviving characters sit around a table (literally) and explain what just happened.

I thought about this book a lot, not just the book itself, but its promotion. So many negative reviews mention The Exorcist. So many positive reviews mention Catholicism. Blatty is not helped by his publishers. They throw "The Exorcist" all over the promotional material. They put thriller on the spine of this novel. It's really neither. It's a mystery, but for the most part, it is about faith and salvation. In reality, that is what The Exorcist was, as well, except it happened to turn in to one of the great horror novels of all time.

One of the themes of this book seems to be whether or not a man who has committed atrocities his entire life can find salvation through good acts in his last years. That possibility is better left to the discussions of philosophers. But as a book, the beautiful moments Blatty seems capable of providing cannot make up for his literary sins, and the story cannot be saved.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хубаво четиво, маскирано като трилър, но също така проза с лек философски уклон и щипка мистика. Блати продължава да е изкушен от чисто човешки теми - за гнева и отмъщението, за прошката и изкуплението, за несподелената любов... Само развръзката ми дойде някак претупана, да не кажа буквално спусната от въздуха.

[Thegemini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my review or read, but fascinating article in London book site about purchase of DIMITER with a new title for the British reading public: THE REDEMPTION. (I think DIMITER'S much better):

“Little, Brown imprint Piatkus has bought a new book by the author of cult novel-turned-film The Exorcist, his first full-length work for more than 25 years. Commissioning editor Donna Condon described the novel, set in 1970s Albania and Jerusalem, as “unusual”, and compared the “suspense element” to the film “The Usual Suspects”. She added: “It’s quite different to The Exorcist in terms of plot, but the writing style is similar. He writes with an unrelenting pace that totally grips you. It ends in a fantastic climax that’s really unexpected.”
Bookseller.com
(10.21.2010)

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that must be read twice.

Two lengthy, unrelated chapters open this tale of torture and faith. The rest of the story accelerates mercilessly through short bursts of dialogue, interviews, epistolary snippets and sudden jolts of vivid action.

The tale comes together in the book's last third, as revelations hit with physical force and the deep, sad mysteries are revealed.

A compelling late career effort from Blatty.

[Teddman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing religious thriller (is that even a genre?) that somehow left me a bit unsatisfied. Though there's a steady supply of mysterious happenings and provocative developments, it never seems to add up to much momentum. It doesn't help that most of the pivotal moments of action happen "off page" and are related after the fact in interviews or dialogue exchanges. As a result, there's rarely a sense of imminent danger; nothing like the page by page unfolding of the climactic struggle in the Exorcist here. I didn't often enough get an edge-of-your seat suspense feeling.

At the same time, I feel like I might be being a little hard on the novel because the writing was very good, and in particular the dialogue and the description of life in 70's Jerusalem. And there is quite of bit of tension in the early going during the tales of torture and familial revenge in Albania. Blatty is great at revealing character through offhand humorous dialogue exchanges, even if at times the tone felt off--too many jokes during a murder deposition tends to sap some of the menace out of the scene.

I was faily dazzled by Dimiter at first, but the pace slowed down in the book's second third and the payoff, while interesting and unexpected, didn't "make up" for some of the slow going that preceded it. I'm left wondering if I should immediately re-read or at least re-skim this book because quite a bit of the mystery isn't spelled out in the finale. I'd still recommend it for fans of Blatty and "religious thrillers" because there really isn't much else out there like it. And he hasn't written a book in twenty-five years!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I never wrote a book like The Exorcist, because if I had, everything I did afterwards would be judged against it and found wanting. Blatty has written a page-turning thriller that's also an incisive character study that's also, most of all, an exploration of duty, loneliness, spiritual emptiness and redemption - all of this depicted in prose that's sharply detailed, poetically rendered (albeit sometimes to excess) and often acerbically funny. However, if you're looking for supernatural horror this isn't the book for you:
the malevolent characters here are all too human, the horrific scenes all too real.

[Stuart Coombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what genre this fits into really, felt more like a noire detective story than anything else. Has the same big picture religious themes that Legion and the Exorcist has, but in a much more subtle manner.

Ultimately it was a bit too disjointed (although intentionally so until the pay off at the end) for me to really immerse myself. I still liked enough elements and the writing was good.


“…and for a time sat motionless, staring through the yellowing window glass as the fracture of afternoon sun and shadow mottled the building across the way in slow dull shifts of melancholy drabness, like a broken kaleidoscope with only two colors.”

[emanumela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizzarro.
Ogni capitolo è un depistaggio e la sensazione è di confusione e incomprensione continua.
Solo alla fine tutto prende senso.
La narrazione è mistica, come Gerusalemme che è l’ambientazione del romanzo.
La scrittura, in traduzione, è sempre brillante.

[Ken Curtiss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started very intense and dark. Then it was confusing. Foreign names used first names, last names and titles. Places and cities all over the world got jumbled. It would have been useful to have an index page with names and explanations, like some Dirk Pitt novels.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writer of this novel is well known as the writer of "The Exorcist" and I read him first in a written sequel to the book called "Legion" which was book that clearly went way beyond any life experience I had at the time but upon a reread discovered to be a very insightful and entertaining novel. This book was only bought due to the writers name.

The novel begins in Albania, where a spy named Paul Dimiter is tortured by the authorities. He is called an "agent from Hell" the man does not seem to experience any pain, but before they know it, he escapes. The novel then desctibes Jerusalem one year later, where a half-Arab European policeman, Peter Meral, finds a murder victim who supposedly was a patient from a mental hospital. Meral tries to find out if there is a connection between Jerusalem and Albania and the enigma of Dimiter. And more dead people are found an there is trouble between the state of Israel and the US on the matter of this highly dangerous and notorious super-spy/ assassin.

An interesting book about revenge, spiritual searching, loss and love. It did leave me puzzled on a few occasions but was nonetheless a satisfying read with an abundance of details of daily live in Israel.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting beginning, then it gets kind of confusing, great introspective into characters, nevertheless worth the read, though not an absolute must read...

[Sandra Deaconu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Foarte greu de urmărit acțiunea, mai ales că subiectul mi s-a părut mai mult decât plictisitor. Personajele sunt acolo doar ca să iasă la număr, un număr prea mare având în vedere dimensiunile romanului. Ca să nu mai spun că partea legată de religie se îndreaptă spre paranormal și fantasy, dar, mă rog, pe mine oricum religia mă duce cu gândul la o poveste fantasy, așa că poate mi s-a părut.

,,Aflat într-un lagăr de muncă, botezase un nou-născut și, judecat și găsit vinovat pentru acest delict, fusese împușcat în acea dimineață de un pluton de execuție. Acum, cadavrul său, împachetat în haine clericale și asemănător unei hălci de carne de la măcelărie, fusese aruncat în stradă, unde avea să zacă timp de trei zile, pentru a le băga oamenilor în cap că Dumnezeu era mai departe decât gloanțele."

,,Oamenii nu mă pot înțelege decât atunci când sunt pregătiți într-adevăr pentru asta."

,,Poți inventa un noian de minciuni pornind de la ceva real."

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This, the last novel written by my favourite author, William Peter Blatty, was not a love-at-first-sight experience, like his penultimate The Exorcist was. When I first purchased this book, I was only a year or two into being a constant reader (one of the best decisions I ever made). I had only recently read The Exorcist (absolutely loved it!), my interested were almost completely confined to horror fiction, and I had only barely ceased being a teenager.

So when I excitedly purchased this book solely for the author's name on the cover, I didn't know what to make of it. It is indeed an odd book, a far cry from The Exorcist and, to a lesser degree, some of Blatty's other works as well. It was not well received by most readers, despite it being the author's "most personally important book" of his career. Even now, it seems the inevitable promotions that associate it with Blatty's most famous novel are absolutely detrimental in positioning readers to enjoy it. This is partly a detective mystery, and it is deeply infused with Blatty's (maybe Maronite?) Catholicism, but here the similarities to The Exorcist end. Dimiter is a strange, enigmatic story that is often hard to follow. I also would not deny, as a fan of the novel, that Blatty may be guilty of employing certain machinations to hold the plot that could be considered as a form of cheating. Here, I mainly refer to his tendency to have many, very short and vaguely relevant chapters, with finally a transcript of certain characters talking, just to straight-up tell the reader exactly what the hell has actually been going on.

One of the things I loved about Blatty from the very start was his writing style. He's not everyone cup of tea, but I personally think his authorial voice is one of the most beautiful in popular fiction. But of course, Dimiter isn't popular fiction. This one is a slow-burner, despite being fairly short. Its style is much more literary, more idiosyncratic on Blatty's part, and so I cannot imagine many readers are who only fans of The Exorcist to go for this. You need to be a fan of Blatty's more generally, in my opinion. Furthermore, as someone else on Goodreads very correctly pointed out, Dimiter is a book that needs to be read twice.

I came away disliking it the first time. I was not mature enough to appreciate the nuances of the story, and nor was I as fervent a Catholic myself at the time. (This book is steeped in references to the Gospels, and not just a knowledge of, but a love for those texts is quite vital). After getting older, becoming much more religious and finding a deeper relationship with Christ in my own life, I enjoyed this book significantly more when I read it again in 2019. Indeed, I liked it so much that, just two years, I asked my wife if she would read it with me again.

This time around, probably because I also read it with the added desire of my wife enjoying it (for her it was that challenging first time), I did not enjoy the story quite as much. But all the same, I still did enjoy it quite a lot. Therefore it shall keep all four of its stars. The first half - not just the excellent first section in Albania - is remarkable, and for me it actually managed to glimpse, here and there, at a potential five stars. But the second half just gets too bogged down in random, seemingly pointless little scenes that don't really connect until the somewhat convoluted, somewhat disappointing climax.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

During 1973, a mysterious figure is taken captive in the totalitarian state of Albania and interrogated by authorities using extreme methods of torture. Impervious to pain and unwilling to speak about his true identity, the prisoner confounds his captors until his remarkable escape. One year later, a series of strange occurrences that include the unexplainable healing of a boy with an incurable condition and the discovery of a body in Christ's tomb have gained the attention of local authorities and intelligence officials. In their struggle to understand this enigmatic case, they discover a plot that is utterly confounding in its complexity. And at the center of it there is a man without an identity, a man who is very dangerous. He is called Dimiter, the Agent of Hell. Dimiter, a fascinating and well-crafted suspense novel, is the newest release by William Peter Blatty, the author of the horror classic The Exorcist. Its mystery has a depth that will captivate readers until its final pages. With imagination and eloquence, William Peter Blatty writes Dimiter, a story that is sure to have mystery-lovers and suspense enthusiasts enthralled for some time to come.

[Linda Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The most personally important book of my career," writes Blatty in his acknowledgments. Appreciate the chaos: the book is a gyre of mistaken identity, pursuit of phantoms and dreams, lost love, and spiritual awakening. I felt the elation of coming close to discovery, and the emptiness of loss. The writing soars. The mystery is a character as real as Meral and Moses and Samia; an allegory for life and meaning. I'm glad I was surprised.

[Julie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

#41.

Review copy for SFFaudio. Read by William Blatty himself. Blatty is an excellent narrator, which is not always the case for authors.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book (well, except for the torture scenes in the beginning). My review will go up at SFFaudio and I will link to it then.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story. There is some serious craziness in the mind of William Peter Blatty. This tale is much more faith promoting than his previous works...

[Richard Cubitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Blatty's previous work.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great thriller by a master.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read The Exorcist back in the early 1970s before the movie was made and always considered it to be one of the most horrific novels ever. I wasn't sure what exactly I was getting into when I decided to read Blatty's Dimiter. I picked this up at a thrift store a few years ago thinking it would possibly be a followup to The Exorcist. Well, not exactly. The novel starts out in Albania in 1973 where a prisoner thought to be an enemy agent is being questioned and tortured by the Albanian police. The prisoner does not answer any questions even though he is subjected to gruesome torture and he finally escapes from his captors. The story then shifts to Jerusalem where a police detective and a hospital neurologist become involved in some mysterious deaths. So who is responsible? It appears that a U.S. agent named Dimiter is involved but who is he and where is he hiding?

This was an unusual novel that had some twists that I wasn't expecting. I was expecting more of a horror novel from Blatty but in the end I did find it satisfying. It has a sort of mystical and spiritual quality that is not totally explained at the end but I did find the story to be compelling and the time period and location for the novel in the 1970s middle east made for a good background to the story.

[Sonny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to say that Bill Blatty was probably at the tail end of his mental acumen when he wrote Dimiter. It is one of the most disjointed, plotless and meandering books I've ever read. A hash of regurgitated ideas and characters from the likes of the Exorcist and Legion, cobbled together with the coherency of a psyche-ward inpatient.

Dimiter is a flavourless serving of dull dishwater. I can't tell whether Blatty wrote this out of desperation (I don't think he was broke) or despair.

Either way, if you don't want to end up giddy with pointless confusion, avoid.

[Петър Стойков · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Димитър" започва с една от най-итересните и шокиращи първи глави, които някога съм имал удоволствието да прочета и зарибява още с първата страница.

За съжаление, след като събитията в сградата за разпити на тайната полиция в Албания приключват, приключва и всичко интересно в книгата. По-нататък следва скучновата, объркана криминална история с окултен привкус, каквито са и другите книги на автора.

[Balthazarinblue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't recommend this to anyone. It's slow and convoluted. Blatty never met a run on sentence he didn't love. So much purple prose. So much telling instead of showing. It's the opposite of a page-turner. I'd read two chapters and then put it down for two weeks and not once itch to pick it back up again. 200 pages in, I realised I still had no inkling what the plot actually was.

I kind of loved it? I really don't understand myself either.

[Alyse Burks]

DNF @ 38%

[T.L. Bahr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hello, Fellow Book Worms!

This my second book read from William Peter Blatty. Entitled Dimiter, the novel plays upon much of Blatty's strengths when delivering this twisting detective tale. There are many religious elements in this book, however the soul of this book lies within the mystery genre.

In 1970s Albania an attempted assassination of a local politician sparks a manhunt that leads to a mysterious stranger in a cabin in the woods belonging to an old blind man. Many believe the stranger to be a local food vendor, while others identify him as another man altogether. He is silent. When asked if he had anything to do with the assassination, he remains silent. Officials begin to believe him to be guilty. But even through hours of brutal torture and interrogation he never says a word. With all other means failing the authorities decide to take more drastic measures. This leads to the stranger escaping, leaving dead bodies his wake. The stranger is soon identified as Paul Dimiter, a notorious spy. Some call him Agent of Hell.

Flash forward a year later to Jerusalem where we meet Doctor Moses Mayo. He has definitely seen a lot working at Hadassah Hospital. And he has heard a lot from his often scattered nurse Samia, who manages to see unexplained phenomenon in the halls daily. He is a self-proclaimed "unsubscriber" of religion, often referring to God as "Maurice". We go on rounds with him visiting patients, some of which are very intriguing. In the same area of Jerusalem his boyhood friend, Detective Peter Meral, works on several cases that seemingly have ties to one another. The biggest mystery is the identity of a man found in the Tomb of Christ at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Old Jerusalem City. This series of events ultimately leads to the resurgence of Dimiter and his encounter with Mayo and Meral.

The entire story twists and turns, with several letters interjecting between chapters that seem to not hold any place in the book at first. But in the last few chapters we are made aware of their significance. The writing is classic Blatty, with often poetic descriptions of scenes. His characters are very likable, especially Samia, who often adds comic relief. And the scene building is very well done, using actual locations as the center of events.

Dimiter was often confusing to read. I felt that it was started as a supernatural thriller, but was later changed to a mystery-espionage novel. There was somewhat of a disjointed flow to the narrative that had me putting this down several times. It was not until the introduction of Detective Meral that I became more invested in the book. Meral is a great character that I would love to see more mysteries with. But the narrative is often choppy, with the end of the book explained rather hastily through interviews.

I read this book in part with the audiobook narrated by William Peter Blatty. His narration was excellent as usual, with the love for his characters apparent as he read their stories. I found that the book flowed smoothly with the audio edition, with Blatty often adlibbing sections to further extrapolate some scenes. I enjoyed the presentation very much.

I give this book three out of five stars. Regardless of my feelings about its choppy structure, I ended up enjoying how all the plots came together. There is also an opening for a sequel at the end that had me intrigued.

Because there is always time to read,
Xepherus3

All written content (c) Copyright 2016 by Thomas Bahr II

[Mark Lawicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dimiter is a beautifully written novel that is both a low energy spy thriller and moody detective story. Like W.P. Blatty’s other iconic works, Dimiter is noteworthy for being atmospheric in an eerie biblical sense.

For me this is a haunting tale of a police officers profound loss and resultant spiritual crisis; his daily struggles to grapple with the cumbersome issues of forgiveness and compassion in its wake. Dimiter as a mystery-laced spy novel is peppered with heady themes of religious faith, sin, vengeance, and love. The story is set for a time behind the Iron Curtain (Albania) but is mostly grounded on the cobblestone streets of 1970s Jerusalem.

I enjoyed this novel but not as much as I had hoped. The writing was compelling and held my attention from beginning to end. Nevertheless, the sinuous storylines at times seemed convoluted and individual characters underdeveloped. Like many other reviewers, I felt lost and/or began to lose interest mid story. The sophisticated plot left me perplexed for most of the narrative until subtle clues and events began to make sense-for the most part in the final chapter. In my humble opinion, too many loose plot threads were tied up at the end of the story


Criticism aside, the mystery at hand kept me guessing, engaged, and intrigued. Dimiter is uniquely entertaining -and thankfully not formulaic or predictable. Few authors can match W.P. Blatty’s powers of description -and Dimiter has many scenes that are phantasmagoric in a wonderful sense. I’ve always enjoyed the palpable sense of humor in characters of Blatty’s creation -and this novel doesn’t disappoint. For these and many other reasons I highly recommend this genre defying and brilliantly written original story. 4 Stars from me.

[sch · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading three of Blatty's novels in quick succession, my affection for this author has grown into something substantial. It pains me to say that I didn't really enjoy most of this novel. It's broken into too many pieces (there are at least half a dozen 2-page chapters), there's so much back and forth page turning required (Who said X? What was Y, again?), and more importantly, there's too much striving after the pointed, spiritual quip. Witness:

"Is there going to be a burial service for him? I'd like to come."
"No, they're sending him home."
Wilson turned his head and mutely stared at the entrance to the church for a moment. Then he softly said, "He's already there."

Again, consider this conversation between the main "seeker" and the Christ-figure in the novel:
"You told Samia to come to me, Wilson?"
"Yes."
"Why would you do that?"
"I wanted to help you."
"Then why didn't you just come to me yourself?"
"That isn't how it works. It's you who has to come to me."
Meral's brow furrowed. "I'm lost," he said.
"Not yet."

And one more, this time from one of the several "transcript" chapters:
SANDALLS: I'm going to say this until I'm blue in the face. He was here on his own.
ZUI: But he did have a mission.
SANDALLS: Oh for Christ's sake, Moshe!
ZUI: I think you've just hit the nail on the head.

In prose fiction, this sort of spiritual witticism only works when used sparingly - as in, once or twice in the whole novel. Too many, and the reader is left wondering whether the book is a novel or a tract. Unfortunately this trick is not limited to the dialogue, but is also to be found in the frequent authorial intrusions terminating chapters, the characterization (e.g., naming one's characters Paul, Jean, Stephen, Moses, and Peter) and plot (introducing as if by accident the Albanian "bessa code" of cyclical revenge, and then recalling it at the very end). Worst of all, perhaps, is that the Christ-figure is uninteresting. Then again, outside of the New Testament, when was the last time you encountered a successful Christ? Not even Milton could do it in Paradise Lost. They're extremely rare.

So setting aside the Christian polemic, what's worth remembering in this novel? As Professor Thomas S. Hibbs points out (http://www.firstthings.com/article/20...), the opening portion of the novel, set in Communist Albania, is compelling. Likewise in Part Two we meet Dr. Moses Mayo, whose serio-comic voice will be familiar to anyone who enjoyed Lt. Kinderman in The Exorcist and Legion. The Arab-Israeli conflict arises in several interesting ways, and the depictions of "Old Jerusalem" (esp. the confusion outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre) are lovingly rendered.

Something to ponder: in the "Acknowledgements" section at the end, Blatty claims that Dimiter is "the most personally important novel of [his] career."

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author whose most famous work dealt with the devil and possession flips to the other side, and pens a novel about the search for Christ, forgiveness, and redemption. Heady stuff, a big task, and a disappointing result.

The early 1970's story begins in a prison in Albania, a country then officially recognized as atheist. A nameless Prisoner has been seized because there is something about him that makes the military uncomfortable; he seems to be a sort of shape-shifter, each person who encounters him has a different idea of his appearance. Though subjected to brutal physical and emotional torture, he refuses to speak, quietly accepting his fate. Eventually, he escapes and vanishes. The action then shifts to Jerusalem, where a neurologist is puzzling over some peculiar deaths with religious undertones. He, a police detective, the CIA, and a few random priests are sifting through the elusive evidence in search of the "truth" (yes, Pilate gets a nod).

Of course the events are connected, but to write more about the story line would be too revealing - there isn't much to it. The characters are likable, though all are suffering from loss and guilt, and sadly in need of salvation. The story was told from varying viewpoints, at times becoming so convoluted that I had to search back through the book to check information. Too many chapters were left hanging with words like "he would find out soon" (wink, wink), and run-on sentences with strings of adjectives became tiresome.

It had potential, and with more clever crafting could have fulfilled its promise.