The Killer's Tears (2003)

Another odd story. An angry man shows up at a home at the edge to earth (somewhere along the Strait of Magellan). He kills the man and woman who live there, but stays around to help the orphan boy who lives there. Just odd. ( )

A young boy, Paolo, and the man who murdered his parents, Angel, gradually become like father and son as they live and work together on the remote Chilean farm where Paolo was born.

You may not think it possible to believe a boy can come to love his parents' murderer like a father, or for the murderer to be redeemed through his affection for the boy, but this elegantly written book does just that.

Young Paolo’s parents are murdered in cold blood by Angel Allegria, a drifter who has found his way to their remote home on the harsh, windy coast of Chile. Amazingly Angel doesn’t kill Paolo and so begins an unusual relationship between the two in which Paolo, who never experienced warm love from his parents, comes to love Angel like a father; and Angel finds himself redeemed through his affection for Paolo. Matter-of-fact and elegant prose make this metamorphosis of the two believable.
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A beautiful read. Bondoux really lets the reader feel the emotions throughout the book, regardless of character. The Killer's Tears is simple story showing how people can change and stressing that the change usually happens too late. Change is not good or evil, it just makes things different and affects how we view life. Is occasionally graphic, so unprepared readers beware. ( )

Q5, P3

When Paulo's parents are brutally murdered in a remote and dismal corner of Chile, their murderer, Angel, takes up residence in their home and begins caring for their young son. As time goes on, they are joined by Luis, a rich young man who is hiding from the world, and the two men become rivals for the affections of young Paulo. When circumstances force the three to leave the tiny farm, we see jealousy, greed, and human nature rise up in its best and worst incarnations.

This is a haunting book dealing with complex emotional issues surrounding loss, survival, murder, and redemption in a way that is both approachable, simply stated, and yet beautiful. ( )