Hector Belascoaran Shayne is a gun-carrying argonaut of Mexico City, a man with a death wish waiting to come true. When a woman tells him a sob story about her sister's death at the hands of a handsome rumba dancer, Belascoaran agrees to take care of him. The P.I.'s hunt leads him to the shores of Acapulco Bay where he discovers that his charismatic murderer leads a dangerous life involving CIA operatives and stolen archaeological treasures. But the deeper Belascoaran digs, the closer he comes to fulfilling his own dark desire, as his chase leads him to Tijuana for a confrontation with a killer.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Unfortunately, this doesn't live up to the admiring blurb on its cover from the author of "Like Water for Chocolate" which calls the author's work "intelligent." The main character is a one-eyed Mexican detective with some far-fetched quirks who thinks in Marxist slogans. This would be fine, except the author has placed him in a predictable Communist morality tale, where the bad guy is an evil Cuban-American "gusano" with ties to the CIA, being pursued by an alcoholic-but-heroic left-wing gringo reporter and our hero. It turns out they are being guided and manipulated by the Castro-Cuban and Sandinista secret police (one of the few realistic touches) to do their dirty work for them. When he discovers this (somewhat after the reader) instead of giving our hero second thoughts this delights him, since he sees it as joining forces with fellow travelers in the global anti-imperialist struggle. Basically, the whole thing is about as intelligent (with about as developed a plot) as a Rius "Marxism for Beginners" comic book. It's a waste of time unless (seriously) you're interested in Marxist literature caricaturing itself.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars
6 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
If Hamlet were a post-modern Mexican private eye
29 April 1998
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Paco Ignacio Taibo's existence-beleaguered private eye continues to roam the streets of Mexico City in search of good sense and moral behavior even after his apparent death. The P.I.'s name, Shayne, plays off the traditional P.I. -- represented by Brett Halliday's character Mike Shayne -- and the lone-outsider-as-hero -- represented by Jack Schaeffer's/Alan Ladd's cowboy Shane. With none of the boisterous control of the former and never quite attaining the quiet dignity of the latter, Taibo's Shayne feels the weight of his Mexico City -- one part Chaos Theory, one part Entropy, one part gritty-greedy-urban-monster -- as it bears down on its inhabitants, who look for fun and hope in every unlikely place. Shayne wants things to be simple and to make sense, but they rarely do in his world, no matter how hard he tries to make it so. World weary, witty, and marvelously funny, I'm glad Shayne came back from the dead. I hope we see more of his adventures in translation.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
you will find no better mystery/comedy novel.
18 Feb 1999
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book will make you laugh and cry . . . but if you are a conservative aging white male you won't appreciate PI Taibo II's extravagant sense of humour.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
wonderful fun
15 Sep 2002
By Stephan Arndt
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Surreal and funny, this book is full of atmosphere and presence. Warning: some things don't make perfect sense, but yet again they do. You need to suspend judgment and accept things as they are.
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3.8 out of 5 stars
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