- Paperback
- ISBN-10: 067973340X
- ISBN-13: 978-0679733409
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.5 x 2.3 cm
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Review
Though very popular in his native France, Durand has yet to conquer a vast American readership (Daddy, 1988; The Angkor Massacre, 1983) - and this original but slack seriocomic outing, set in the 1920's, is not likely to win him new ground. While Daddy was a masterful cat-and-mouser played out through a maze of clever puzzles, here a parallel duel of wits - between Candido Cavalcanti, a Brazilian playboy, and Alexis Alekhin, a Russian spy - consists mostly of mousy Cavalcanti wiggling out from Alekhin's claws. What grabs here, however, is the premise: that Alekhin, eager to curry flavor with Lenin (who appears in vivid cameos), creates the role of "Jaguar," a fearsome international revolutionary - and then casts unwitting Candido in the role. Candido's adventure begins when he escapes from brutal Brazilian military service to Berlin, only to fall in love with Samantha Franck, an American anarchist whose harebrained plot to blow up a cinema attracts Alekhin's attention. Alekhin kills the cinema's owners, and in anonymous calls to police and newspapers ascribes the murders to Jaguar, a.k.a. Candido; posing as a friend, he then helps Candido and Samantha escape to Russia - where they learn of his plan to use Candido as a revolutionary pawn. From then on, it's a black-humored wander around the globe (through Siberia, where the pair clash with brigands; through the American West, where for no good reason they meet Hollywood pioneers William Fox and Carl Laemmle) to Brazil, with Alekhin never far behind, killing many and blaming the deaths on Jaguar. And as Jaguar's legend grows, Candido's strength and courage do too - until, after capture, imprisonment, and escape, he finally becomes Jaguar in truth, to Alekhin's fatal regret. Strong premise and characters, but the storyline - a meandering, murky blend of irony and un-rousing adventure - lacks definition and punch. In all, far less satisfying than the gripping Daddy. (Kirkus Reviews)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Candido Stevenson Calvalcanti de Norunha acquires the nickname Jaguar, from the emblem on a winning lottery ticket. He deserts the military service, falls in love and eventually learns that the world has savage rules and that he must live up to his nickname - Jaguar.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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1 review
Didn't meet my expectations...
1 May 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Because "Daddy" by Loup Durand ranks as one of my all time favorite stories I had high expectations for this book. I'm sorry to say I was deeply dissapointed in this story. I found it to be redundant, and repetitive, although I must say it was an original storyline concept. Sometimes the physical torture of the protagonist proves to be implausible and that is certainly the case in this story as the repeated beatings go beyond the pale...
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