The Shadow of the Shadow by Paco Ignacio Taibo II, translated by William I. Neuman

Having neglected Latin American literature for too long, we’ll delve into this gem from noted novelist Paco Ignacio Taibo II (apparently known as PIC II by his friends). The author was born in Spain but moved to Mexico nearly 50 years ago. He writes in various genres, including historical fiction, revolutionary biography and crime fiction. PIC II published a recent collaboration (The Uncomfortable Dead) with the renowned Mexican rebel leader from Chiapas, Subcomanandate Marcos of the Zapatista Revolutionary Army, or Zapatista Army of National Liberation. PIC II also started Semana Negra, or Noir Week, a week-long crime fiction festival in Gijón, the Spanish town where he was born. This is the very festival that contemporary Cuban crime writer, Amir Valle, was attending when he was declared persona non grata by the Cuban government.

The Shadow of The Shadow (TSOTS) is a novel of Mexican revolution, of ordinary men doing the extraordinary, of military and political corruption, of unions vs. the establishment, of racism, and of the bountiful variety of Mexican life, love, and the pursuit of liberty. TSOTS follows a group of domino-playing friends through adventures and perilous encounters, all of which were started by a chance observation and a subtle set of inconsistencies, and which are pursued with the undying loyalty and hunger for the truth that bind the men together.

At the very start, we meet the main cast: the poet Fermín Valencia, who is a native of Spain- Gijón no less; journalist Pioquinto Manterola; the lawyer Verdugo; and a union organizer of Chinese-Mexican heritage named Tomás Wong (or simply The Chinaman). The men are playing a regular, late-night game of backgammon in the empty, barely-lit basement bar of Mexico City’s Majestic Hotel. To say this is a motley crew would be a significant understatement, and Verdugo, whose career is fully occupied by the legal requirements of prostitutes, typifies their lives of the fringes of society. However, this is also a lovable group: they engender respect from the reader by their loyalty to each other, their bravado, their humanity, the way they bleed when cut, and an adherence to a moral code that is as clear to them as is the blue sky over Sonora.

The year is 1922. Men carry side-arms as essential accessories to any set of clothes, because these are dangerous times. The poet Valencia, who makes his living, such as it is, writing advertising jingles, is a five-foot tall, nearsighted and slightly-built combat veteran, formerly of Pancho Villa’s army. With typical bravado and vanity, Valencia wears a full mustache and tall leather boots, but almost never wears the thick glasses that he needs to see much of anything. However, Valencia's vision doesn't fail him much when he witnesses the cold-blooded assassination of a military trombonist during a performance by the First Artillery Regiment Brass Band. Being on the scene, he learns some inside information and relates it to his friends over the next games of dominoes.

That very game is interrupted by a brief and unpleasant interlude with a trio of Army officers, who refer to our friends as third-class citizens and mock Wong's Chinese heritage. Wong responds by firmly punching a lieutenant in the face. With smooth coordination, the lawyer covers his friend with a pistol and the poet prevents the downed man from drawing his pistol, leaving the officers with nothing to do but slink off. Then, things really begin to heat up.

While waiting for a sketch artist to finish illustrating an article about the recent murder of two decorated Army officers, the reporter Manterola looks out the window of his third floor newspaper office and daydreams. After inadvertently tossing his cigarette at beautiful woman on the street below, Manterola watches, stunned, as a man flies through the glass of a 3rd floor window on the opposite side of the street. Looking straight through the broken window across from him, Manterola sees a familiar face. The reporter then rushes downstairs to record the details of the dead man and his fall.

An important subplot that parallels and intersects the novel's mysteries is the struggle between union man Wong and management, who use thugs and ultimately the Army in an attempt to repress workers' rights.

Meanwhile, another game takes shape alongside dominoes, one that Holmes and Watson would enjoy, as the men discuss, puzzle through and piece together some connections that link the recent violent events. Each brings unique training and skills to the game, in addition to a shared courage, and they unravel the mystery against the backdrop of union action.

The storyline is intricate but accessible, and it pulls the reader along with well-orchestrated suspense, reflection, observation and action. This is much more than a mystery story, however. Though it is never forced or heavy-handed, the novel allows us to learn about Mexican society of the 1920's. In many ways, it isn't a pretty picture, though we come across plenty of beauty in Mexico itself: the countryside, the Mexican people (no matter how marginalized), their courage under constant fire, and the language of the author all provide a welcome and often heroic contrast to the corruption and violence that stain nearly every political and business endeavor.

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Nightlife, thrilling crime fiction by Thomas Perry– a Review

Nightlife: A Novel

I have enjoyed a number of Thomas Perry’s books, especially the early books in the Jane Whitefield series, a set of books about a Native American woman whose special gifts allow her to help people disappear from the face of the earth, assume new identities, and escape the evil that men would do.

Like the Whitefield series and many of my favorite detective stories (see books by Cara Black (Cara Black's books), Linda Barnes, and many others discussed on this blog), Nightlife also has a woman protagonist: Catherine Hobbs, who is a homicide detective from Portland, Oregon. Catherine is on the trail of a murderer and possible kidnapper, or perhaps several murderers; her picture of the crimes is muddled at first by a profusion of contradictory and incomplete evidence. We, on the other hand, have the advantage of hearing the killer’s own thoughts, though they are dissociated enough from reality that it takes some time to filter them properly and obtain some semblance of the truth.

The first victim whose murder Catherine investigates is Dennis Poole. She is joined nearly from the start by a private detective and retired member of the L. A. district attorney’s office, Joe Pitt. Pitt is extremely charming and an experienced investigator, and was brought on board by Los Angeles-based crime boss Hugo Poole. Hugo and Dennis, as it turns out, were cousins. What bothers Hugo, and Catherine for that matter, is that Dennis was, in a nice way, simply “a nobody”: a nondescript computer salesman in a seemingly boring job, one that he actually loved and was good at. Dennis was not a “player”, he was just a pleasant and unadventurous fellow, highly unlikely to meet the kind of person who would do him in. Yet the murder was clearly committed by a close personal acquaintance, or, more likely, with the unwilling help of such a person. Certainly someone involved was intimate enough with Dennis to have access to his apartment while Dennis was taking a bath. Access enough to walk up to Dennis and shoot him in the head during that relaxing bath. At least he never saw it coming- his eyes were closed while he rested in the tub after a long day at work. Perhaps, Hugo worries, the killing is some kind of retaliation for one of Hugo’s criminal enterprises in L.A.

There is immediate concern about the location of Dennis’ new girlfriend, whose presence is indicated all over the apartment, but who has disappeared. Was she used by a thug to gain entrance to the apartment, is she still alive, was she a witness to the crime?

The excitement and considerable suspense of Nightlife make for an enjoyable ride. At the heart of things is a killer who is nuts (a technical term), but who has developed an extraordinary skill at identity theft, and at preying on unsuspecting victims carefully set up for the kill with detailed planning. The killer’s mental illness manifests in the way that each new personality and identity are truly inhabited, bringing to them an authenticity of performance that fools everyone.

Adding to the suspense, one never knows what the murder will look like, or what the murderer’s new name might be. However, Catherine applies insight and exhaustive detective work to track the schizophrenic killer, hoping to put a stop to the seemingly endless trail of victims who are apparently connected by nothing except their availability and ready assets. Catherine is, however, able to tease out of the matrix of assembled and possibly unrelated data a couple of threads that send her off to investigate.

With a small but significant amount of help from Joe, Catherine finally tracks the killer down, but she is off her home turf, without backup, and in serious danger before she figures out the complete story. When Catherine realizes the new identity that the killer plans to assume, she is horrified, frightened and more determined than ever to try to stop the serial killing. Who survives this final struggle? Read Nightlife to find out.

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