This wandering, twisted, semi-mystery, semi-thriller shows off its best side perhaps in the romantic subplot it weaves between a lady of ill-begotten means that becomes the object of worship of a young adjutant. The adjutant steals the show as it were from the Corporal trying to solve a mystery of a series of disappearances in a mining community in the mountains of Peru. The story focuses on such a small number of players, with a few very differing but local settings, that it seems ideally suited to a play. Larger-than-life barkeeper and his wife whisper toward some untoward but perhaps realistic activities, and the story lays out historical and current realities of living in a society where increasing guerilla activities in more remote parts of the country keep it from being a modern state. Spiritual without being symbolic, animalistic without being energetic, and romantic without being maudlin, it satisfies outside of the laconic storyline. ( )

As far as I'm concerned - less valuable than most of the other MVL's novels. An exercise of writing though... ( )

Vargas Llosa is a brilliant writer - this work is darker than others of his that I have read, but the period he wrote about in this was dark and violent, and he has captured that disturbingly well. More realistic, less magical than his early work. Well worth reading regardless. ( )

Narrates indirectly the impact of the atrocities done by Sendero Luminoso ( )

The brief summary: In a desolate and hidden away Andean village, three men disappear. 2 civil guards are sent up there to investigate the disappearances.

Sounds normal enough, right? From the first page, you realize that this novel is not so cut and dry. There are multiple stories being told at once from multiple perspectives. This book is a challenge to those who cannot keep a storyline straight. The days are devoted to investigating the disappearances of the three men. During this investigation, you hear brutal stories of murder and politics of local residents and foreign tourists. The nights are devoted to Tomas, who spends each night talking about his love affair with the girlfriend (prostitute) of a mafia boss in Peru.

More at: http://thenovelworld.com ( )