Praise for Don’t Send Flowers
“Rich in conception and execution . . . Don’t Send Flowers is full of odd twists and strange surprises.”—Wall Street Journal
“[Don’t Send Flowers is] fast-paced, original . . . [and] fresh . . . A kind of Molotov cocktail that explodes in the hands of the reader.”—Forbes (Mexico)
“Upping the ante on his exuberant, inventive debut, The Black Minutes, Solares returns with [the] hugely ambitious [Don’t Send Flowers] . . . a powerful, kaleidoscopic tale set in a society where there is no center to hold . . . Solares offers a harrowing vision of how it all works, or doesn’t, from the bribes that grease the wheels to the blood that paints the walls, to the last gasps of the peaceful town and the natural world around it. . . This is another urgent and vital work from a writer to watch.”—Booklist (starred review)
“A gripping crime story set amid Mexico’s escalating drug cartel wars and a nationwide atmosphere of police and judicial corruption . . . [Don’t Send Flowers] is an excellent, frightening portrayal of the breadth and depth of Mexico’s cartel violence and systemic corruption.”—Publishers Weekly
“[Don’t Send Flowers is] unpredictable . . . reminiscent of Don Winslow’s dark thrillers The Power of the Dog and The Cartel . . . Throughout the book’s bold narrative choices, Solares maintains a deft touch for suspense. He draws out the threat of violence like a horror maestro until it unleashes in terrible bursts. Solares’s most frightening ability of all, though, is to give even monstrous characters understandable motivations . . . Remarkable.”—Shelf Awareness
“This gritty noir by Solares combines a compelling mystery with political upheaval and will appeal to fans of fast-paced thrillers in grim locales.”—Library Journal
“Any noir fan will feel at home with this novel immediately; gritty and vicious but so real it’s scary. . . The writing is cool, even lyrical, the dialogue is a hard-boiled joy. . . Don’t Send Flowers is a labyrinthine tale of corruption, gang wars, revenge and murder . . . A no-nonsense full-on thriller that leaves you breathless. . . Don’t Send Flowers brings a town under siege from narco-traficantes, corrupt officials and greedy businessmen to life. . . Solares doesn’t pull his punches, these are the meanest of streets. A pacy, sharp witted thriller that will stay with you for a long time.”—Nudge Book Magazine
“Crime novels don’t get much grittier . . . Solares keeps the pace high, the pages turning. A sort of Mexico Confidential, with noirish atmosphere to burn and a very high body count.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Don’t Send Flowers is a mesmerizing family saga set in a town that’s the scene of beautiful memories and illusions and a thousand unspeakable crimes.”—Thomas Perry, author of The Bomb Maker
“A gritty, direct, exciting novel that is a must-read for anyone who wants to look at the hell that the Gulf (and Mexico at the same time) has become.”—Antonio Ortuño
“A deep dive into a country whose flesh is gangrenous with narcos, Don’t Send Flowers [is] a very well researched noir . . . Martín Solares confirms himself as a high-voltage writer.”—Le Monde des Livres (France)
2018-05-29
Crime novels don't get much grittier or more brutal than the second thriller by Solares (The Black Minutes, 2010), set in a contemporary northern Mexico that's a blood-soaked moonscape."This isn't a city anymore," a former colleague tells Carlos Treviño when the ex-cop returns to the corrupt, cartel-run coastal city of La Eternidad. "It's a...western." The teenage daughter of a wealthy industrialist has been kidnapped—an everyday occurrence here, given the vicious turf wars and power struggles that have emptied out the city, closed its clubs and restaurants, and left the streets filled with countless roadblock shakedowns and the burned-out husks of cars. But the girl's body hasn't been discovered, and there's been no demand for ransom. Might she still be saved? Though Treviño is a wanted man here, having crossed the police chief and his minions by being incorruptible, the reluctant detective gets coaxed back from his remote hideaway by the possibility of a gigantic paycheck. Meanwhile, Treviño's old police antagonist, the venal opportunist (and thus survivor) Chief Margarito González, is trying to feather his nest before retiring, and he'd love to exact revenge against Treviño on the way out. Solares' great gift here is for setting. He captures heart-wrenchingly the grim chaos and hopelessness of a country run by drug lords, smugglers, and the sleazy kleptocrats they own. Some readers may struggle with the machismo that dominates not only the city, but the novel, and in the second half especially, which focuses on Margarito's grafts within grafts and intrigues within intrigues, the plot and structure grow a bit too baroque and disorderly, but Solares keeps the pace high, the pages turning.A sort of Mexico Confidential, with noirish atmosphere to burn and a very high body count.
