Desperado: A Mile High Noir
The plot in this "mile high noir" unfolds in a reasonably straight-forward manner until about the two-thirds mark, at which point the path forward becomes a little more twisted, adding several layers of complexity, all to the better. Relatively short at just 180 pages, it's an appropriate length for what turns out to be a really good crime novel. Our rating: 4 of 5 stars.Mysterious ReviewsIt's grand having Manuel Ramos mystery novels back in play. The master of chicana/chicano noir hasn't lost a step in the hiatus between 2013'sDesperadoand 2003'sBrown on Brown,with a pitstop in 2010 for the nostalgia-drivenKing of the Chicanos. Ramos uses a deft hand to juggle the novel's two murders, the murder of Artie Baca and the metaphorical murder of the lost and ruined homeland. ...Desperado: A Mile High Noiris a lot of fun to read, plus it leaves you weighing how one person's change is another's decay. Michael Sedano for La Bloga"The plot in this 'mile high noir' unfolds in a reasonably straight-forward manner until about the two-thirds mark, at which point the path forward becomes a little more twisted, adding several layers of complexity, all the better. Relatively short at just 180 pages, it's an appropriate length for what turns out to be a really good crime novel. Our rating: 4 of 5 stars." --Mysterious Reviews"It's grand having Manuel Ramos mystery novels back in play. The master of chicana/chicano noir hasn't lost a step in the hiatus between 2013'sDesperadoand 2003'sBrown on Brown,with a pitstop in 2010 for the nostalgia-drivenKing of the Chicanos. Ramos uses a deft hand to juggle the novel's two murders, the murder of Artie Baca and the metaphorical murder of the lost and ruined homeland...Desperado: A Mile High Noiris a lot of fun to read, plus it leaves you weighing how one person's change is another's decay." --La Bloga"As invigorating as a dip in a Rocky Mountain stream." --Mystery Scene Magazine"A dark mix of North Denver gangsters and Catholicism, but it's [the] setting that really grips readers. Nostalgia is combined with reality...Ramos gets it right." --The Denver Post"Edgar Award finalist Manuel Ramos writes some of the smoothest mystery fiction I have encountered in a long time." --Third-Chance Book ReviewsA dark mix of North Denver gangsters and Catholicism, but it's [the] setting that really grips readers. Nostalgia is combined with reality...Ramos gets it right. --Denver Post