The Peruvian Book of the Dead

by Roger J Florschutz

Overview

"It's been fifteen years since Brisdon vanished into thin air..."

So begins a story that will take you from post-war Scotland to the art-world of London and New York, across the Peruvian countryside during the rise of Shining Path, and to a secluded Ontario summer resort during its darkest hours.

The Peruvian Book of the Dead weaves four separate narratives into a single tale of mystery, love, and horror as it examines the effects of guilt and regret, secrets and lies, and shows us how the enigma of the heart will ultimately reveal its mysteries.

"...a capable and talented writer..." - New Star Books

"The Peruvian Book of the Dead is a very fine novel: a very compelling story..." - Coach House Press

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781990496271
Publisher:	Ace of Swords Publishing
Publication date:	11/14/2023
Pages:	402
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.82(d)

Editorial Reviews

2023-08-09
Four darkly compelling storylines converge in Florschutz’s debut novel.

On a dark, rainy night in early November, John Brisdon Noxon, a middle-aged art curator, disappears. His wife, Imogen, finds his hidden journals, including one detailing Brisdon’s trip to Peru as a young student—and his passionate affair with a local artist, César, which ended in tragedy. Each journal entry is addressed to Karen, Brisdon’s twin sister, who disappeared when the siblings were 5 years old. Fifteen years later, Imogen and her partner, Max, gather their family around them to commemorate the closing of their lakeside resort, the Sheltering Arms. That weekend, the mysteries of Brisdon’s disappearance—and of his sister’s—are illuminated in a series of haunting revelations. The novel weaves together four points of view: Brisdon as a young man lived in the shadow of his sister’s disappearance and haunted by the death of his parents in a plane crash. In Peru, he falls in love with César Acosta, heedless of the dangerous political climate, and is devastated by the atrocity that tears them apart. César, haunted by the same memories (and harboring a few secrets of his own), transforms into the reclusive artist CÁLA. Margaret, Brisdon’s Scottish mother (once a lively young woman, now a disturbed, paranoid personality), details the events leading up to the disappearance of her daughter. Finally, Imogen, surrounded by her loved ones, is left to pick up the pieces the others have left behind. The four storylines frequently overlap, and several scenes are depicted more than once from different perspectives; as in Rashomon, instead of feeling redundant, the repetitions add depth and nuance. The settings, ranging from postwar Scotland to rural Peru to a remote Ontario lake, provide evocative, moody backdrops for the story. “As we drove on, Lima felt ominous in the dim light–a polluted, dry, decaying insomniac of a metropolis.” The characters baffle and infuriate, like real people, and the unlikely series of coincidences at the end add to the uncanny, mystical feel.

Part mystery, part love story, part horror story, this debut novel lingers like a vivid dream.

Kirkus Reviews