Superintendent Lascano is a detectove working in the shadow of military rule in Buenoes Aires in the late 1970s. He is sent to investigate the discovery of two bodies - but when he arrives at the crime scene, he finds three. Two are clearly the work of the junta's death squads and hence not to be investigated by the police, but the third seems different. Lascano follows the trail, taking the reader on a journey through a city poisened to the core but an oppressive military regime.
Needle in a Haystack (An Inspector Lascano Mystery)
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What Mallo has achieved is a flawless, relentless work, a book the reader will find suffocating and yet impossible to put down.A" Diario Y Noticias Crime fiction continues to be an effective prism when focusing on political violence. Mallo's writing is hard and sharp. But the book is not simply a triumph of style because the story itself offers both a reflection on a time of bloodshed and a raw vision of human misery.A" Guillermo Saccomanno --Guillermo Saccomanno
About the Author
Born in 1948, Mallo is a published essayist, newspaper columnist, and playwright. He is a former militant, pursued by the dictatorship as a member of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, which was later absorbed by the Montoneros guerilla movement. 'Needle in a Haystack' is his first novel and the first in a trilogy with detective Lascano. The first two are being made into films in Argentina.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As an avid fan of crime fiction, I was first introduced to Mr Mallo by an Argentine friend. Unfortunately I don't speak or read Spanish. When I read in a Guardian review that 'The Needle in the Haystack' was now available in English, I rushed out and bought a copy.
If you like your crime 'hard-boiled' but with an alternative background (70's Argentina in the time of the juntas) and with a fresh writing style, you'll enjoy this book. Incidentally, don't think that just because it's a translated version it's not the 'real thing', my Argentine friend who is fluent in English has told me that the translation is superb and captures the essence and style of the original Spanish perfectly.
If you like your crime 'hard-boiled' but with an alternative background (70's Argentina in the time of the juntas) and with a fresh writing style, you'll enjoy this book. Incidentally, don't think that just because it's a translated version it's not the 'real thing', my Argentine friend who is fluent in English has told me that the translation is superb and captures the essence and style of the original Spanish perfectly.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A. Ross
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Like most Americans, I know almost nothing of Argentine history -- however, unlike most, I do at least know that there was a very nasty internal conflict known as the "Dirty War" some thirty or so years ago (like everything relating to the Dirty War, different people have different ideas on the start and end dates). I knew, in broad terms, that a military junta seized power and waged a brutal campaign of repression against various left-wing elements in society, ranging from armed guerrilla groups to leftist intelligentsia. I know that people were snatched from their homes, the streets, wherever, never to be seen again ("disappeared" in the infamous phraseology), while daily life went on more or less as normal.
What I didn't know is what that era felt like. This first in a trilogy featuring Buenos Aries police Superintendent "Perro" Lascano, takes place in the midst of the Dirty War, and brings it to life. As the book opens, he is called out to look into a report of two bodies lying at the end of a dirt road. However, when he gets there, he finds three bodies -- two executed leftists, and a third man completely unlike the others. What follows is a pretty straightforward procedural, as Lascano methodically assembles clues, interviews people, and figures out who the mystery man is and why he was killed. Of course, his investigation takes him into the murky waters of the junta and its friends, and he has to tread carefully to avoid being disappeared himself.
He's a classic Chandleresque detective, a loner, haunted by the memory of his dead wife, world-weary, etc., but along the way he acquires a love interest who rekindles his spark. The investigation isn't particularly clever, as the Lascano is easy able to trace them, literally picking up clues along the way. But the lurking danger of military involvement hangs over everything and gives the story a deep sense of menace. The book's one big flaw is in how it renders dialogue: speech is set in italics in long unbroken blocks of alternating sentences, so that you have to keep careful track of whose "turn" it is to speak. It's a really strange decision, and makes dialogue a total pain for the reader. For those with an interest in modern Argentine history, or the international crime fiction, it's worth making the effort.
What I didn't know is what that era felt like. This first in a trilogy featuring Buenos Aries police Superintendent "Perro" Lascano, takes place in the midst of the Dirty War, and brings it to life. As the book opens, he is called out to look into a report of two bodies lying at the end of a dirt road. However, when he gets there, he finds three bodies -- two executed leftists, and a third man completely unlike the others. What follows is a pretty straightforward procedural, as Lascano methodically assembles clues, interviews people, and figures out who the mystery man is and why he was killed. Of course, his investigation takes him into the murky waters of the junta and its friends, and he has to tread carefully to avoid being disappeared himself.
He's a classic Chandleresque detective, a loner, haunted by the memory of his dead wife, world-weary, etc., but along the way he acquires a love interest who rekindles his spark. The investigation isn't particularly clever, as the Lascano is easy able to trace them, literally picking up clues along the way. But the lurking danger of military involvement hangs over everything and gives the story a deep sense of menace. The book's one big flaw is in how it renders dialogue: speech is set in italics in long unbroken blocks of alternating sentences, so that you have to keep careful track of whose "turn" it is to speak. It's a really strange decision, and makes dialogue a total pain for the reader. For those with an interest in modern Argentine history, or the international crime fiction, it's worth making the effort.
By Rob Kitchin
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Needle in a Haystack is a noir crime novel blended with social/political observation. The story is not driven by a `whodunnit' or `howdunnit' narrative, as it is fairly clear from the start who killed the third body and why. Rather the hook is who will win out between Lascano and Giribaldi; whether justice will prevail. I'll avoid a spoiler, but needless to say the book has one of the best endings to a novel I've read so far this year. Throughout the characterisation and social relations are keenly portrayed and the prose is well crafted. The plot is relatively straightforward, but that doesn't detract from the reading experience. There were one or two things that didn't quite ring right, such as Biterman's backstory, but otherwise one felt immersed in the claustrophobic life of Buenos Aires in the late 1970s. Overall, an informative and entertaining slice of noir, lifted by a great ending.
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