"...transfixing new novel...grounded in a darker vision of human nature..." ( )

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, 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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )