HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Colombian author Gamboa made his initial bow in English with Night Prayers, a fascinating, existential quest by a namelss diplomat to prove the innocence of and free a compatriot held on a drugs charge in an overseas jail, but who ends up in an ambiguous relationship with his sister. His new novel is vastly more ambitious and the thriller elements prove more political, involving Nazis in Argentina, paramilitary priests, present day Colombian revolutionary politics and much in the way of darkness. Also returning are the consul and Juana as we follow their fate after the conclusion of the first novel in what might turn out to become a series. Also on board in these twisted adventures and explorations of the dark side of night are the poet Rimbaud, a preacher who claims to be the Pope’s son and a gallery of colourful characters taking us on an unforgettable ride which spans the planet and the imagination. Both topical and wildly imaginative and daring, this is what Roberto Bolano might have written had he wanted to indulge in thrillers. Rather unique.
