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Or the Bull Kills You (Max Cámara) [Paperback]

Jason Webster
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
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Book Description

3 Feb 2011 Max Cámara (Book 1)

Either you kill the bull, or the bull kills you - traditional proverb.

Chief Inspector Max Cámara hates bullfighting, but one hot afternoon in Valencia he has to judge a festival corrida starring Spain's most famous young matador. That night he is back in the ring, and what he finds on the bloodstained sand shocks the city of Valencia to its core. As Cámara hunts his prey through the streets and bars, firecrackers echo for the festival of Fallas, and the town hall election. The anti-bullfighting campaigners and the breeders of prize beasts fight to the death. The bullring is a test of virility, but should it be a site of national pride or shame?

Or the Bull Kills You has a brilliantly authentic setting and a great detective, with a love of flamenco and brandy. This is the first of a series of books starring the quirky and forceful Cámara - a man clearly destined to make his mark.


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Or the Bull Kills You (Max Cámara) + A Death in Valencia (Max Cámara) + Guerra
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Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Chatto & Windus (3 Feb 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0701185090
  • ISBN-13: 978-0701185091
  • Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 2.2 x 23.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 343,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

Sexual politics, male identity, clan loyalties, and the experience and lore of bullfighting: the novel is full of interesting material (TLS )

An American author, brought up in England, writes about bullfighting in Spain. Festive Valencia is his chosen city and the murder of a charismatic matador the centre of the plot. Jason Webster is pretty ambiguous about the morals of the fight, but knows his stuff (Country Life )

One of the most attractive figures to enter recent detective fiction ... Like the best detective stories, this book becomes a scrutiny of our most powerful drives and secrets (The Independent )

The first in a projected series, which is very good news indeed ... nifty plotting, great descriptions and the most enchanting new detective I've come across in a good while. (The Guardian )

Webster has completely nailed Chief Inspector Max Camara, while vividly bringing to life Valencia. (Daily Mirror )

Book Description

Gripping, hot-blooded detective fiction with authentic Spanish setting - first in a series.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Parallel Mysteries 4 Mar 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
`Or the Bull Kills You' is a vivid, masculine, energising book by a writer unafraid to confront the reality of violent death.

As in any good murder mystery, the identity and motives of the killer (or is it killers?) remain concealed until the end. Chief Inspector Max Camara of the Valencia Cuerpo Nacional de Policia resists the temptation and pressures on him to indict the most obvious suspect. Instead, using the tactics of the bullfight, he gets to know each of the suspects, observes the weaknesses of each, assesses their capacity to torture and kill and predicts their responses before moving in for the final confrontation.

To really appreciate this book you have, like a matador, to be in control and refuse to rush. Then you realise that Camara is not only a detective: he is also a mystery. In parallel with the revelation of the hidden lives of the suspects is the revelation of a side of the detective he has previously refused to acknowledge. Who among us really likes to admit he, or she, is driven by animal instincts? By identifying with the bull, Camara acknowledges he has within him both bull and bullfighter. Using the art of the matador to control the bull within, rather than denying its existence, he learns to benefit from, rather than be at the mercy of, animal vitality.

I suspect this is a book which will be read mostly by men, but for me it was engrossing and I hope that it will find many more readers among women.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite hit the mark 24 Feb 2011
Format:Kindle Edition
I am a fan of Jason Webster so couldn't wait to get my hands on this.

The character Max Camara is pretty well built up and has posibilities, but for now he is a bit too predictable.

The plot is fine enough but the book suffers from a lack of atmosphere (those who have read "Shadow of the Wind" or "Winter in Madrid" will know what I mean). I have been to Valancia City and the narrative didn't evoke anything much for me. The descriptions of the city were a bit flat and there were some parts of the plot where I felt lacked credibility (Max had a night of passion with a lady friend and got accidently separated the next day in a crowd, but they both did not contact each other for two months).

Perhaps the biggest disappointment was that there didn't seem to be any twists and turns that are the hallmark of a good yarn. I also found some of the speach a bit American, such as quite a lot of use of "kind of" which is not really Spanish.

So, a bit disappointed but I don't want to write it off.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Room for improvement ... 14 Mar 2011
By Douglas
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Jason Webster has written some fine, quasi-travel books about Spain - 'Duende', 'Andalus' and 'Guerra'. These are books, which as someone who lives in Spain, I've often recommended to English speakers who want to learn more about Spanish society beyond what the Lonely Planet Guide offers. This is Webster's first novel, although some have suggested that his non-fiction books are sometimes overly embellished by his clearly fertile imagination. Set in Valencia, 'Or The Bulls Kills You' adds to the ever growing number of crime novels coming out of Europe these days. The difference this time is that the author writes in his adopted city of Valencia, in contrast to those who centre their books in their own cities, such as Henning Mankell in Ystad, Jo Nesbø in Oslo, Manuel Montalbán Vázquez in Barcelona and Ian Rankin in Edinburgh. Webster has come up with an intriguing detective Max Cámara and the story is set against bullfighting and the Fallas celebrations in Valencia. As an introduction to what is apparently going to be a series of novels featuring the detective Max Cámara, the plot unfolds in a fairly erratic fashion - at one crucial point a significant event is inexcusably ignored until the very end of the book - and the storyline is frequently broken by unnecessary background detail about Valencia and the organisational structure of the Spanish police. Hopefully, future plots will be more tightly composed and Webster will cut back on his deeply irritating use of Spanish in the text - sometimes translated and sometimes not - which simply detracts from the flow and impact of the narrative. Better editing would improve the book immensely and also get rid of a number of typos.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing. 5 April 2012
Format:Paperback
I bought this book with high hopes. I'd read a couple of the author's factual books (Duende and Guerra) and found them and therefore Jason Webster to be a compelling and enjoyable read.

However, I found "Or the Bull Kills You" to be frankly boring. I really wanted to like this book, I read it through to the end hoping it would get better, it never did. The structure and plot were weak and I found the prose turgid, uninspiring, and, in parts, unbelieveable (very different from Webster's excellent writing in the aforementioned books). The content should have been a writer's dream: Valencia during Las Fallas (a celebratory religious festival) and bullfighting but even with that background it lacked guts and a strong storyline.

On a couple of positive notes: I learned a lot about bullfighting and the place it has in Spanish people's consciousness; and, I hope to get a couple of quid for my copy on Amazon Marketplace.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Valencia brought to life.
I have enjoyed Jason Webster's non fiction books in the past and was intrigued to see if he could put it off in the realms of murder mystery. Pleased to report he can! Read more
Published 2 months ago by andrew
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT READ!
I was intrigued when I read that the author of the brilliant Duende had turned to crime fiction. I am pleased to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope this develops into a... Read more
Published 2 months ago by PL
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Excellent. Have read other non fiction by this author which prompted me to buy this. Reminds me of Robert Wilson. Will certainly buy te next in the series.
Published 3 months ago by Peejy
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book plot and characters extremely believable.
I am a lover of all things Spanish, which is why I bought (downloaded) this book. This increased my enjoyment immensely. Read more
Published 6 months ago by spainlover
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Have read all Jason Websters books, absolutely brilliant. If you are into Spanish and Spain of course. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Minty
4.0 out of 5 stars This time it isn't just the bull that does the dying .....
The novel oozes with the intoxicating atmosphere of everyday Spain but you do not need to be a fan of bullfighting to enjoy it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by GUTMAN
5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting introduction to Valencia and Max Camara
This is the first book in the Max Camara series set in Valencia. The author lives in Valencia and the city is a major character in the story. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mrs. K. A. P. Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars No bull about this book.
Or The Bull Kills You, is an intriguing murder mystery set in Valencia in the middle of Las Fallas a rather noisy but colourful time of celebration and partying. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Cynthia Shepherd
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting trip through the Spanish Fallas
This is so much more than a simple murder mystery! Romance, history, bullfighting(symbolism, morals & controversies),country cultures & family heritages all woven into an exciting... Read more
Published 11 months ago by sljk
3.0 out of 5 stars great cover, standard fare story
The real strength of Or The Bull Kills You is the sense of place, the detailing of the history and culture of bullfighting, and the insights into the political machinations of... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Rob Kitchin
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