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Doom and Gloom
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Start giftingVelvet Was the Night
Bookseller recommendation
“A slow-moving crime noir set against the political backdrop of 1970’s Mexico City. The lives of a secretary and a hit man converge when an art student goes missing. Gisela Chipe did an excellent job maintaining the atmosphere throughout the narration. Utterly intriguing and cinematic.”
Sofie,
Phoenix Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Silvia Moreno-Garcia does it again! I have enjoyed every single book I've read of hers. Velvet Was the Night illustrates give and take between happenstance and plotting, lack of knowledge and accidental coincidence. All folks in the book are trying to find the same person, but all for different reasons. This leads people on wild goose chases and causes suspicion of people just trying to return the missing person's god damn cat. The characters struggle with what they are 'supposed to do' vs their conscience, how they are perceived by those around them vs by themselves, and their growing defiance to claim their autonomy. Velvet Was the Night dives deeper and deeper into the links between the government/police force, gangs, communism, and reporters in 1970s Mexico City. This is a story of the emotional, lonely hearts of broken people in a political world out of their control.”
Emma,
Content
Bookseller recommendation
“From the author of Mexican Gothic comes a classic noir with a side of romance based on the Mexican government’s suppression of dissent in the ’60s and ’70s and the involvement of the CIA and KGB.”
Rebecca Dowling,
Hockessin Book Shelf
Bookseller recommendation
“Thoroughly entertaining. Once again, Silvia Moreno-Garcia does a wonderful job capturing the genre she is writing for. The plot, the pacing, the characters are all what they should be for good noir fiction. Add to that, the unique setting of Mexico City post Corpus Christi Massacre and during the Dirty War, and it's also educational! Excellent reading by Gisela Chipe.”
Kristine,
Buttonwood Books and Toys
Bookseller recommendation
“Velvet Was the Night explores the unpolished edges of our souls we hide from one another and unveils the people who find the inadequacies of their lives to hold an inescapable gravitas. Here is a mystery that spirals into an achingly realistic look at humanity. Whose grit and violence is balanced with poignant moments of vulnerability. It’s written by a master of her craft whose mind you’d be remiss to not wander through. Simply put, it’s a fantastic read with an ending that I loved...”
Constance,
Mysterious Galaxy Books
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a simmering historical noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of the missing woman they’re both desperate to find.
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, New York Public Library, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, BookPage, She Reads, Library Journal• “An adrenalized, darkly romantic journey.”—The Washington Post
Mexico in the 1970s is a dangerous country, even for Maite, a secretary who spends her life seeking the romance found in cheap comic books and ignoring the activists protesting around the city. When her next-door neighbor, the beautiful art student Leonora, disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman—and journeying deeper into Leonora’s secret life of student radicals and dissidents.
Mexico in the 1970s is a politically fraught land, even for Elvis, a goon with a passion for rock ’n’ roll who knows more about kidney-smashing than intrigue. When Elvis is assigned to find Leonora, he begins a blood-soaked search for the woman—and his soul.
Swirling in parallel trajectories, Maite and Elvis attempt to discover the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, encountering hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies. Because Mexico in the 1970s is a noir, where life is cheap and the price of truth is high.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of the novels Velvet Was the Night, Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, and a bunch of other books. She has also edited several anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award–winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu’s Daughters). She has been nominated for the Locus Award for her work as an editor and has won the British Fantasy Award and the Locus Award for her work as a novelist.