The Hidden Assassins by Robert Wilson: terrorism and crime in Spain

A thriller and police procedural with international intrigue and espionage all included just as part of the story, The Hidden Assassins (THA) is Robert Wilson's third novel about Chief Inspector Javier Falcon, lead murder investigator for the historic city of Seville, which is located in Andalucia, southern Spain. The novels are intertwined, sharing many characters in addition to the Inspector himself. To understand the relationships that Falcon is embroiled in (and you will want to), the stories should be read in order of publication, starting with The Blind Man of Seville (TBMOS), followed by The Vanished Hands (TVH).

The beginning to this series, The Blind Man of Seville, is a tour de force, an astonishing novel of byzantine family history, pride, violence, jealousy, love, betrayal and "all the other departments." As I have previously mentioned, The Vanished Hands is very good, but pales somewhat in comparison to its predecessor. With The Hidden Assassins, however, Wilson has given us another masterpiece. This time, the story is both personal and global in scale, and it is very much a novel that reflects today's post 9/11 world. THA manages to reflect so many different aspects of the world that the story is a true gem.

After a brief interlude in London, The Hidden Assassins starts with the discovery of a body, but this is no ordinary discovery, even for a murder squad, because all distinguishing marks have been removed from the dead man by a variety of techniques that I'll leave to the imagination. The novel is propelled in a multitude of directions by this discovery, like the Universe after the Big Bang. Occasionally, we follow Falcon's thoughts backwards in time, to events familiar from the previous novels, which are revealed even more clearly now, before we can move forwards and try to catch up with the flood of investigative information needed to solve the present-day mystery.

Before long, the trajectories of the novel's various plots are deflected by another significant explosion, this time not metaphorical at all: a huge detonation completely destroys an apartment tower in a poor section of town, devastating families and putting the entire city on edge. A mosque in the basement of the tower block is the epicenter of the explosion, and this fuels public suspicion of the Islamic community. The Islamic population originally arrived in Seville in 711 AD, and flourished until King Ferdinand III expelled them in 1248. Even today, those years can be referred to as the Arab Occupation. The Jews were later expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492. During The Hidden Assassins, talk of once again expelling the Islamic population begins to gain steam, especially with the poor, who are courted by xenophobic, nationalistic, right-wing political forces. This time around, it appears that the Jews are safe in Seville, at least for the moment, but Fascism is being embraced by some prominent Roman Catholic citizens, and, in addition to stirring up the crowds with tabloid propaganda, these minority extremists may have infiltrated as far as the National Intelligence Agencies themselves.

Falcon's investigators, who include a former nun, react with varying but significant degrees of distaste to the "need" for a simple story and an identifiable, preferably Islamic scapegoat. However, we can be sure of one thing: the police investigators want to identify all of the criminals and all of the victims with great specificity and detail, and then treat them accordingly. There will be no rush to judgment by these investigators, but will they move fast enough to satisfy a growing civil unrest? Will powerful forces in politics, the intelligence services and business gain the upper hand and control the outcome of the investigation?

To complicate things, the massive scale and terrorist nature of the bombing means that the police now have to contend with the appearance of two feuding Spanish National Security agencies who, at times, do as much to hinder as to help. Simultaneously, the city grows more restless and angry, with most of the anger reserved for the Islamic minority (and some for the police and government). Has the explosion possibly revealed an Islamist plot to "liberate" Andalucia and return the region to Islamic rule? This theory is popular in the tabloids, but it doesn't seem credible to the investigators.

Trying hard to keep an open mind, Falcon directs his team and the forensic investigators through the painstaking work of sorting through the rubble for clues, identities of the victims, and a time-line of events. Relentless in the face of a chaotic assemblage of information, Falcon manages to keep his focus on the facts in spite of political pressures and the stone walls that are constantly being erected by the security agencies.

Breakthroughs in the case can only occur in fits and starts, especially because, though Falcon's intuition tells him that the parallel murder and bombing investigations are linked, evidence of the links is sorely lacking. Unfortunately, this evidence is needed to create a path forward. However, things do begin to take shape around certain key events, like the suicide of a counter-terrorism agent and the discovery of a mysterious group that had the basement mosque under surveillance for some time. This group has intimate ties to pockets of the Roman Catholic community and to some major corporations. Oddly, these corporations don't hire women and seem to do all of their recruiting after prayers at church.

In addition to a grueling work schedule with grim deadlines, Javier Falcon has family problems to deal with and personal demons to struggle with: Falcon's ex-wife is now (unhappily) remarried to a prominent Judge; the woman Falcon loves refuses to see him; relationships become increasingly complex with Falcon's recently-discovered Islamic family in Morocco. All of these matters conspire against a decent night's sleep. However, the story's exceptional balance mirrors Falcon himself. In many ways, Falcon's respect and understanding of Islamic culture allow him to see through smoke screens and around corners, bending light through a multicultural prism to find the truth.

In a familiar role, the CIA makes brief appearances and doles out information according to its own interests and perceived needs, and this is a case where the American agency can and does help with vital intelligence. However, nothing comes for free, and Falcon's Moroccan family connections attract all of the spy agencies, who try to elicit Javier's help with under-cover work. In some cases, these agencies are spying on each other as much as on the nominal enemy, but such paranoia may turn out to be justified, especially if the actions of the right-wing Nationalist groups have become indistinguishable from the deeds of Islamist killers... indistinguishable without great forensic and investigative teams, anyway.

With all of these plot elements, a lesser writer would eventually have succumbed to stereotypes and stock solutions. However, the author Wilson and his man Falcon keep all of the balls in the air like master jugglers and refuse to settle for the cheap and easy solutions that the tabloids and growing rabble crave. Along the way, we meet vicious opportunists, cold-blooded killers, grief-stricken parents, genuine (if naive) politicians, corrupt would-be king makers, and men and women of great strength and outstanding character, more often in the poor Muslim and Catholic communities than in the upper echelons of society.

As the mysteries unravel under Falcon's guidance, new problems are revealed, and the suspense mounts: can the investigators identify, locate and thwart the next terrorist plot? Can any of the high-society Christian fascists be brought to justice? Can Javier Falcon survive his battle with the twin monsters of Christian and Islamic terrorism and find his way back to normalcy through the labyrinth of his frayed emotions?

The Hidden Assassins reward us with rich detail, panoramic vision, plenty of suspense, terrific pacing, a compelling, thrilling and horrifying set of story lines, and a view of the world that is, to my eyes, balanced from very many perspectives. In the end, the reader sees violent religious and political fanatics for what they are, regardless of their ethnic origins: common criminals who leave innocent victims dead and broken in terrorism's wake.

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Succinct review of "The Blind Man of Seville"

This review (click to see it) is brief but effective, and adds detail that complements my own "impressionistic" remarks on work by Robert Wilson including The Bind Man of Seville. Convinced yet? Let me know how you feel.

Technorati Tags:the blind man of seville, robert wilson, police procedural, spain, j0z's journal
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All posts have been updated- more links and text

Please note that I have copy edited all posts, improved content and added promised links (along with new-found links). Thanks for all the continued feedback. I guess blogs don't really work this way, so I'll have to start getting it right the first time, but given the state of things, there will be a few more global updates. The Skull Mantra (Eliot Pattison) and The Murder Room (P. D. James) and Nick Hornby's reviews remain the only work that has received long(ish) treatment, with text added on Robert Wilson, Philip Kerr, David Lodge and Lawrence Durrell, among others.

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Murder in Scotland, Spain, Portugal, West Africa and Berlin

We have to add key books and people to the discussion right away, so I'm publishing without all the links that should be added (I'll edit them in later):

1. Ian Rankin, whose Inspector Rebus novels like Fleshmarket Alley (Fleshmarket Close in Britain) are truly excellent. I can't say the same about the Jack Harvey novel Blood Hunt- I found it to be pedestrian. But, nobody is perfect, and we should be thankful that Rebus is on the prowl in Scotland. I also know too much about the chemical and agricultural issues that formed the foundation of the crimes in Blood Hunt to find their treatment very satisfying in the book. But, hey, this just shows the danger of too much learnin'. Read it and enjoy! Perhaps enjoyment, or at least suspension of disbelief, will be easier if your aren't an industry insider.
   
   
2. The Blind Man of Seville, A Small Death in Lisbon, The Company of Strangers and The Vanished Hands represent one type of Robert Wilson's work, the intricately plotted, remarkably dark stories of murder, family, betrayal, pride, patriotism, spying, manipulation, secrets, weakness, love and pain. Pretty good territory for a rainy day, eh? These are works of literature,* though I wouldn't lend them to my kids. The Vanished Hands seemed to me a little weaker than the others, but it was married to political and social messages about repression in South America (by South Americans and the US) that needed to be published, so I give it some leeway. The first three I listed here are strong stuff, and are nothing short of brilliant. Rarely do I react as viscerally to the printed page, and rarely am I so engaged in the puzzle, as when I read this side of Wilson's writing.
   
   The other part of Wilson's work that I am aware of is the series of Bruce Medway novels, including The Big Killing, A Darkening Stain, Blood is Dirt, and Instruments of Darkness, all of which should be read. Soon. These books are less ambitious than the first set is some ways, and somewhat less satisfying, but still excellent. Although frequently violent and filled with betrayals and much sadness, there is a bit of optimism in these books, if seen through the boozy haze. The brotherhood of mankind has not completely broken down. Also, with the books being shorter, the characters are less fully developed (we don't know about three generations or more for each person's family, including all lateral genealogy, nor all GPS waypoints in everyone's lives for the past 85 years- just teasing a bit, here!), and the depths of depravity are somehow slightly less horrifying than in, say, The Blind Man of Seville.
   
   I'm not complaining about the characters at all: Medway and Co. form a terrific ensemble cast that sometimes stays a step ahead of crooks, sometimes a few steps behind, but mostly survives, to drink too much, another day. They ply their trade in West Africa, which is fully as foreign to me as any distant locale.
   
   Actually, it is a difficult to decide why the violence is less horrifying here, in Medway's world, than say in Inspector Falcón's world, because it really isn't. I hope the different affect is because somehow everything is less personal, life being painted with a broader brush in the Medway books, making events easier to accept and move on (to one's own life). However, it must be difficult to craft a great read in one third the number of words of the other books, so I'm not trying to be a jerk here, because they are great reads, and we should all know more about West Africa (at least where I live). It's not that I don't respect the Medway books in the morning, it's that I don't think about them as much in the morning, or find myself haunted as much by them at night, as I do with Seville, Lisbon, et al. "Bruce Medway"
   
   I strongly recommend reading each subset of Wilson's books in the order of their publication, given that aspects of character development can carry over from one story to another. I believe that the books are written by the same person, but the two have really nothing in common. That both sets of novels are very successful is impressive.
   
   
   *Did I just break a Nick Hornby rule? Or am I about to? See here. "Nick Hornby"
   
   
3. Philip Kerr is a cypher to me, or perhaps not, maybe I grok his fullness. What I can say is that he has written some of the best murder mysteries ever (see Berlin Noir), but he seemed to "go commercial" a while back and I don't connect too well with him any more in a consistent manner, though I don't deny the man his right to make a living. So where do I draw the line and why? I guess on another day."Philip Kerr"
   
   
   Question: is Philip Kerr coming back into the fold?

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