Book Review of "Dimiter" by William Peter Blatty

Book Review on “Dimiter” by William Peter Blatty.

I was a little surprised to purchase this book “Dimiter” by William Peter Blatty (Forge Book, copyright 2010) at the Dollar Store but even more surprised that it was far from a horror or demonic book.  Blatty is famous for authoring “The Exorcist” and the movie screenplay of the same book but he is also known for his humorous “John Goldfarb, Please Come Home” and his co-authoring of the Inspector Clouseau movie screenplay, “A Shot In the Dark.” 

This book, surprisingly, is a religious book about an assassin who takes the role of a priest and then finds that the priestly role begins to take over his life.  The narrative begins in Albania with the “hero” (Dimiter) being tortured to tell the truth.  When he, surprisingly, escapes his captors the book turns to Jerusalem and a series of circumstances which bring Dimiter and several other characters together—detective and otherwise.

I found the narrative very engaging and Blatty’s writing style varies from chapter to chapter.  I was especially intrigued by his interview dialogue in several chapters.  I would be interested in trying this style for our annual drama of the Last Supper.

The book grinds to a slow halt and, sadly, leaves the reader wanting more information and a more neat and clean ending.  The assassin turned priest truly has a religious experience but the ending might strain the market credulity of Hollywood film makers.