I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while. Not because I’m a fan of vampire stories, but because I absolutely adore Moreno-Garcia’s writing. And her imagination. And her style.
Sure enough, on all those accounts the book did not disappoint. To be fair, this is her earlier work getting republished and so it doesn’t quite have the same sophistication as her later novels, but it is still very much undeniably a Moreno-Garcia book. From the characters that grab you and drag you along with them on their crazy adventures, to the spectacular world-building, to the use of Mesoamerican mythology and Mexico as location and a character in and of itself – yeah, pure Moreno-Garcia. Did it take me longer to get into than her other novels? yes, it did. Because, like I said, I’m not all that into vampires. But having that been said. If I am to read a vampire story, it should be this one or ones just like it. The vampire thing here is very elaborate and intricate and requires its own min-encyclopedia at the end. Essentially, there is a number of subspecies, all descendants of one race but split up across centuries and continents, and now with significant differences. The lead of this book, Atl, belongs to an ancient Aztec race, the youngest in her line, and hunted by the same vampires (from a vicious European clan) that killed her mother and sister. She finds assistance (her Renfield) is a seventeen-year-old kid off the streets, Domingo. For him she is the best possible choice, no matter the danger. For her, he is a mere convenience, at first. But as their situation gets more and more dire, their relationship becomes more and more complicated and involved. There is so much more going on in this novel, oodles of exciting side characters, both vampiric and non, action, suspense, intrigue. It’s a novel of a chase, a novel of survival, in its dynamic and is as thrilling and as exciting as you’d ever hope for. But then it also packs a wallop of an emotional gut punch…just so you never forget how good this author is. And it’s all got this shiny neo-noir style that Moreno-Garcia does so expertly. Very entertaining. Great read. Recommended.
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