Untamed Shore

"She'd always been so afraid that the land would eat her, but it was obvious now that the answer was you had to eat it. You have to be the carnivore, the devourer, the one who bites first. A shark, enormous, majestic, unstoppable, rows and rows of teeth."

A fun, pulpy noir. I really enjoy Moreno-Garcia's writing: this is, I think, the third book by her that I've read this year. In a small fishing village in Baja, Mexico, a young girl named Viridiana works as an occasional translator. Educated far beyond the rest of her friends by her father, also a translator, she reads voraciously. One summer, she's hired by visiting tourists. Ambrose, a wealthy, older man has pretensions at writing a novel, and Viridiana lives in his home, taking notes show more on his book whenever inspiration strikes him, night or day. Also there are Daisy, Ambrose's much younger wife, and Gregory, Daisy's good-for-nothing, but very handsome, brother. In the hot, desert climate, surrounded by the rotting corpses of sharks, Viridiana soon learns that Ambrose, Gregory, and Daisy aren't quite what they seem. It's only when circumstances spiral into violence that she has to ask herself, will she rise up? Or will she remain, like her mother, trapped in this small village forever? Moreno-Garcia knows how to write a good noir novel. This was very entertaining. show less

Any story in this setting with this narrator would be a joy to read. The sense of place and history. The love of languages and cinema. The sun drenched noir (I suspect I'm stealing that phrase from somewhere) that's woven by these pages is unforgettable.

The shark beach is the visual that you expect from the cover, but it's the pristine vacation house drenched in white that really focused things for me. It was a space begging to be filled with chaos and dangerous color. The book does not disappoint.

I acquired this as part of a noir bundle, and initially it really doesn't feel like it, it has a literary crime slow burn t it, but eventually a darker edge creeps in and it probably does just fit into noir.

Its set in a small fishing village in baja California towards the mexican border, sometime in the 70s or so. Tourism is the key economic driver, but small villages don't get many visitors. Virgidana named after a film is a clever girl who earns a living translating for tourists when she can escape her devout catholic family. One day an old author with a young wife and her brother, rent out a property for the summer so he can 'finish' a book, they hire our heroine to take notes, and translate with the locals as necessary. The brother show more appears smitten with her, and although her family are disapproving she chooses not to reject him. Fairly soon though she starts having doubts about their relationship, and those of the author and wife.

It's a lazy languid style that eloquently captures the tedium of small village life, the oppression and gossip and the lure of 70s glamour that's visible but not really present. I enjoyed this more than I initially thought I would and will keep an eye out for the author's other works. show less

Excellent Period Noir in Baja California 1979
Review of the Agora Books hardcover edition (February 2020)

This was an excellent slow burn noir thriller set in the north Pacific coast province of Baja California in Mexico in 1979. The time setting is presumably to situate it in a simpler time of lesser high-tech communications and surveillance and reduced (and perhaps yet non-existent) cartel activity. The place setting with its laidback community of fishermen and small tourist operators evokes all sorts of images of small town life and limitations.

The imagery is also constantly peppered with references to older films, not always noir, but which creates associations with heat and desperation. Films with Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth show more Taylor especially from the Tennessee Williams plays were what most helped in setting those scenes in my mind.

The story itself is simple enough, small town girl is looking to escape the bonds of her restrictive existence and meets up with tourists who are a possible passageway to that. Some may be grifters and some not, and the question is: who is grifting who?

This was a totally impressive suspense debut which felt like it was part of the classic age of noir. I am now curious to read Silvia Moreno-Garcia's other works to see what she does in other genres.

Trivia and Links
Untamed Shore is one of the initial titles from Agora Books, a new imprint of independent publisher Polis Books which will be "a diversity-focused imprint devoted to crime and noir fiction." Other initial releases from Agora Books are Three-Fifths (September 2019) by John Vercher, Remember (October 2019) by Patricia Smith, The Ninja Daughter (November 2019) by Tori Eldridge, Line of Sight by James Queally (March 2020), Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem by Gary Phillips (expected July 2020), and The Ninja's Blade by Tori Eldridge (expected September 2020). Watch for further releases from Agora Books at the Polis Books website. show less

Deception, lies and blackmail. Silvia Moreno-Garcia's noir writing skills shine in this twisty, slow burn suspense novel!
Living under the adage that a fish can only grow as big as it's bowl, naive 18 year old Viridiana watches classic movies and dreams of a life far away from her small village.
Working as a tour guide in a remote fishing town, it is both luck and misfortune when she accepts a personal assistant job for a wealthy traveler and his two companions.
As the events unfold and Viridiana becomes entangled in a web of duplicity and betrayal, she comes to realize nothing is as it seems, and her life will be forever altered.
Engaging narrative, sinister characters, and vividly described settings create an engrossing story with a show more stunning conclusion.
This is the second book I've read by this author and I'm looking forward to more!
*Thank you Silvia Moreno-Garcia, NetGalley and Polis Books for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my honest review. show less

I think I've decided to read all the books Silvia Moreno-Garcia as written, and I was over the moon when I was selected to receive an ARC of the new edition of Untamed Shore.
It's a very atmospheric book, the coastal town of Desengaño (what a name! "Disillusion"...) felt real to me, with the paradoxical effect that I understood Viridiana's (loved her name as well!) hope to escape, and wanted to stay in a bit more to absorb the writing style and the effective descriptions.
The "action" was a bit slow to start but it made sense - the suspense was well built. I did guess a few things before they were revealed, but I still enjoyed the tension that was well built. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is definitely a versatile author!
I want to thank NetGalley show more and Quercus Books for gifting me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Such a fun noir, a little mystery, a little coming of age, and a rich setting as always.