This book is actually written by Marcos and Paco Ignacio Taibo II--Library Thing should add Taibo as an author. Excellent book--I hate to say better than Taibo's other work, but Marcos' bitter tongue in cheek added to Taibo's cynical tongue in cheek gives you, even translated into English, a wonderful read--think Ken Bruen south of the border. ( )

This exhilarating collaboration fuses the vast talents of the world's most literary revolutionary and its most politically savvy detective novelist. Replete with up-to-the-minute references to Mexican politics, the novel was first published in weekly installments in La Jornada, the Mexico City newspaper that for 11 years has been Subcomandante Marcos's primary outlet in the conventional media; its conclusion appeared on February 20 of this year. Written alternately by the authors, who had only sporadic contact, the chapters were each complete in just a few days. Despite the peculiar working conditions, the story flows and often soars. Taibo's familiar Mexico City detective, Héctor Belascoarán Shayne, joins forces with a Zapatista investigator to track some villains whose misdeeds are emblematic of the crimes of the Mexican government in its treatment of dissidents during the "dirty war" and its more recent repression of indigenous groups in Chiapas. The chapters written by Marcos, while earnestly serious about the issues they address, are often hilariously unconventional: some of his characters know they're in a novel, and many poke fun at Marcos himself, who is a key character in the book. Taibo's expertise in the genre paces the story and keeps it grounded. The essential compatibility of these writers, as each astutely riffs on themes suggested by the other, maintains the work's integrity. Another unifying element is their shared regard for Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, the recently deceased Spanish master of the novela negra, who was a friend of both; he and his detective, Pepe Carvajal, appear throughout. The publication of this rich text is a literary event. Ardently recommended for all libraries and bookstores. ( )