The Mongolian Conspiracy

by Rafael Bernal, Katherine Silver (Translator), Francisco Goldman (Introduction)

Overview

A gripping and hilarious 1960s Mexico City noir

Only a couple of days before the state visit of the President of the United States, Filiberto García — an impeccably groomed "gun for hire," ex-Mexican revolutionary, and classic anti-hero — is recruited by the Mexican police to discover how much truth there might be to KGB and FBI reports of a Chinese-Mongolian plot to assassinate the Soviet and American presidents during the unveiling of a statue.

García kills various bad guys as he searches for clues in the opium dens, curio shops, and Cantonese restaurants of Mexico City’s Chinatown — clues that appear to point not to Mongolia, but to Cuba. Yet as the bodies pile up, he begins to find traces of slimy political dealings: are local gears grinding away in these machinations of an "international incident"? Pulsating behind the smokescreen of this classic noir are fierce curses, a shockingly innocent affair,smoldering dialog, and unforgettable riffs about the meaning of life, the Mexican Revolution, women, and the best gun to use for close-range killing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811221955
Publisher:	New Directions Publishing Corporation
Publication date:	11/18/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	412 KB

About the Author

Rafael Bernal (1915-1972) was a Mexican diplomat and novelist, best known for his crime novels, including The Mongolian Conspiracy (New Directions).
Katherine Silver's award-winning translations include works by María Sonia Cristoff, Daniel Sada, César Aira, Julio Cortázar, Juan Carlos Onetti, and Julio Ramón Ribeyro. The author of Echo Under Story, she volunteers as an interpreter for asylum seekers.
Francisco Goldman, the author of five novels, one book of nonfiction, won the Prix Femina for his latest, Say Her Name.

Editorial Reviews

"The best fucking novel ever written about Mexico City."

Francisco Goldman

2013-10-20
A new translation of a 1960s Mexican noir novel. Bernal (1915-1972) was a prolific writer of novels and plays. Silver's translation of what is considered his literary masterpiece, El Complot Mongol (1969), allows a new generation of readers to discover his writing. The tarnished hero is Filiberto García, a Mexico City assassin whose unique skills make him an indispensable tool for the Mexican government. Yet, his propensity to shoot (or stab) first and ask questions later also makes him an uncomfortable reminder of the more tumultuous time of the revolution. The tension between Filiberto's volatile individuality and the government's increasing bureaucracy comes to a head when he is tasked to work alongside FBI and KGB agents to prevent an assassination of the American and Mexican presidents. While he's working with his American and Soviet counterparts in the seedy underworld of Mexico City's Chinatown, his investigation turns up evidence that the plot may, in fact, be much closer to home. In the process, Filiberto meets a girl whose presence causes him to reassess his long-held views on manhood and compassion. Along the way, he discovers that, much to his chagrin, he carries a conscience. As in the pulp novels of yesteryear, through sparse narrative details and fast-paced dialogue, Filiberto endears himself to the reader as that street-hardened detective who can just never shake his sense of justice. In the tradition of the classic detective novel, a fun and action-filled read.

Kirkus Reviews