The Penalty

An excellent sort of sequel to Peet's first novel, Keeper. On the surface, The Penalty is about a young missing soccer player. But dig deeper and it's really a novel about religion, about belief and about trust. I wasn't sure I'd like this one as much as Keeper, but I do. A few of the same characters, including the journalist who mostly acts as the main character, come back. I look forward to more books that take place in this same, imaginary South American universe. ( )

Not as good as The Keeper, but nevertheless an intriguing book. Paul Fastinio is researching his book on El Gato when the news breaks that one of the world's best players El Brujito - The Magician - has disappeared. Although Fastino is technically on holiday and not investigating the case, he talks to the main reporter to find out what he believes has happened. Two days later, the reporter turns up dead in a canal with a knife in his back. Meanwhile, there is another story from the past about a slave who has been brought from Africa and the unspeakable horror he endures. The two stories interweave in their connection to the old religion of Africa - Voodoo - the slave becomes a pai - holding the memories of the African ancestors and healing the sick ; the soccer player has worshipped the old gods in his quest to become the best in the world. Can Faustino discover the connection between the two? Can he escape after being kidnapped and dragged to a remote village in the jungle where in the past lightning struck the Catholic Church twice and destroyed the village? p.176 -184 Pia is brought to the main house to cure the slave owners' two sons who have contracted Cholera.

Ricardo Gomes de Barros’ extraordinary soccer skills garnered fame for the 18-year-old, but his disappearance after a critical game leads sportswriter Paul Faustino to investigate “El Brujito’s” vanishing act. When he asks too many questions, Faustino is kidnapped and taken into the rural countryside where Barros grew up; there he learns of the ancestor worship and “Veneration” that the displaced slaves brought with them to the New World. Dividing the narrative between Paracleto, a 1700’s Loma slave, and Faustino, Peet uses Paracleto’s voice to expound some vital information to the reader, but the divided narrative jars readers from the present mystery and reduces the cohesiveness of the work as a whole. The lack of background information will leave readers with questions about ancestor worship and other religious traditions among displaced Africans, and further questions about the history of slavery in South America. Including an appendix with both timeline and glossary of the various gods would increase the effectiveness of the text. Similar to Tamora Pierce’s “Immortals” quartet, Peet’s god characters appear, provide cryptic insight, and fade back out; however, they are the most interesting characters in the work. The serendipitous nature in which Faustino eventually discovers Barros reduces the mysterious element of the story to a mere side note in the plot, which had previously suffered from a lack of suspense. ( )