THE author of The Exorcist returns to mess with the human psyche in The Redemption. A versatile tale of death, betrayal and the search for spirituality.
The story is on Paul Dimiter, American, CIA agent extraordinaire and world renowned “agent from hell”. Dimiter had appeared in 1970 Albania, the then most oppressive state in the world. In spite of being caught and inhumanly tortured by the state security he hadn’t as much as sighed, let alone beg for mercy. Then by some twist of fate Dimiter kills his torturer, escapes, and vanishes like a ghost. Next thing you know dead bodies are popping up everywhere. And then the next shocker comes up when the CIA says that Paul is in retirement, meaning all of actions are personal vendetta.
In spite of technically having a protagonist The Redemption has a plethora of characters each somehow connected to the chaos going on, these including general Vlora of Albania state security, Dr Moses Mayo and nurse Samia of Hadassah Hospital and police inspector Meral. All these characters are pretty out-of-the-box and have their own baggage but they are perfectly enmeshed into the story and the climax reveals all.
In the end is cute, short-story Terry and the Werewolf and despite its formidable name is a light romance story and in no way connected to Dimiter’s tale (except for sharing an author, but we can ignore that, right!)
The book is definitely action packed and the culmination is surprising, but it tends to be confusing due to the constant shift in focus. Nonetheless, readers are in for a joy ride with The Redemption.
(Hachette India, 612/614 (6th floor), Time Tower, MG Road, Sector-28, gurgaon-122001)
