- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Sceptre; New Ed edition (11 May 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340750456
- ISBN-13: 978-0340750452
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,381,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
As an international dope smuggler, David Ramsbottom is used to an eventful existence. We join him on the day of his wedding to debutante Annabella Babbage--chain-smoking reefers in a bid to forget his two tons of hashish trapped in Beirut, and the police cars encircling the church.
Fifteen years later, broke, world-weary and irredeemably dependent on weed, David rejoins his old smuggling partner, Tony Khouri, in Israel, on the promise of easy cash to be made from an illegal land deal. But, as David should have learnt, nothing in his life comes easy. Shadowy Mossad agents, murderous Russians, fanatical nuns and egg smugglers are strewn across his path, while David yearns for just one smoke to make sense of it all. When that smoke comes, he is catapulted into an apocalyptic end-game, where his own survival hangs in the balance.
Set against the chaotic backdrop of the late 90s Holy Land, The Dope Priest is an uncanny mix of humour and tension. It combines the relentless pace of the best thrillers with the jaded eye of a pot-smoking William Boyd. It is possible to have reservations over such a cocktail: sometimes the political detail, though thoroughly researched, is a little heavy. And the love interest never quite produces the goods--because the plot allows little opportunity for its characters to grow on us. That said, Blincoe has tackled an unfamiliar subject with enviable ease, and produced a gripping tale. Reading while under the influence is not advised. --Matthew Baylis
Review
'Nicholas Blincoe is one of England's most gifted writers. His prose has clarity, range and restraint. He flips between entertaining and challenging his readers with an intelligence that is both embracing and unforced' (Alex Garland )
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Full of insights and local knowledge; very, very funny,
By Kurt (London!) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dope Priest (Paperback)
I loved it! Blincoe writes extremely well, making it all seem deceptively easy. Dialogue is rendered true to the idioms of the region and the characters are rendered vividly and efficiently. The episode with the nun on the Via Dolorosa still makes me laugh now - I have picked the book off the shelf a few times just to reread that passage. Great stuff.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Safest way to visit Israel and Palestine,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dope Priest (Paperback)
I have been to Israel a few times and even trekked round the tourist spots of Bethlehem but this book took me deeper than I ever expected. It is set in 1997 so it is pretty peaceful - there are no riots on the streets, no soldiers shooting teenagers with rocks. Instead it looks at different problems, every day life in the occupied territories and the Israeli efforts to dominate Jerusalem by all means possible, whether that means violence, or just buying up all the available property. The hero is a likeable British stoner who never quite realises how serious the situation is. It is a funny book, but it is also the most serious-thinking book I have read in a long long while.
1.0 out of 5 stars
cute short stories strung together badly,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dope Priest (Paperback)
I read a great review of this book in the Guardian Weekly, but I will never trust them again. There are a few funny stories here, but stringing them together into a novel was a mistake. They are barely hooked together, hard to follow and generally silly, making all the characters seem stupid and laughable. Any attempts at sympathetic characters are two dimensional. Definitely not worth the price!
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