31 noches

Author: Ignacio Escolar
- Fiction
- Suma de Letras
- ISBN: 9788466335737
- Release Date: 04-04-2012
-Reviewed by: María del Carmen Rivero

The opening chapter of this short debut novel by the journalist Ignacio Escolar begins with a chilling finding- a room filled with a plastic bucket full of sulfuric acid. The novel also ends in the same room, waiting patiently to dissolve a corpse.  The first chapter sets the tone for this fast paced- hyper- violent novels set in the very hot August month of Madrid.

The usual suspects-Colombian drug lords, a corrupt police officer, a polish Mafioso, and our overly curious journalist-all collide with disastrous and unexpected results.  Our protagonist, a journalist, is also the narrator of his demise-literally-because early on in the novel we are told that he is dead, but there is a twist at the end of this thriller because he is not really dead.  However, as a journalist, father and husband he has died on those 31 nights of August when he stumbled upon the sordid night life of the discotheque Premium and its regulars.

The author introduces characters that have stereotypical undertones, but he is able to pull it off with his psychological profile and descriptive language:

Velasco, the corrupt policeman who has no problem killing an elderly man for no good reason; however, he takes the deceased cat as his pet because he felt sorry for the orphaned cat.  Alek, a huge man, a polish immigrant, who is a killer, but can also be good friend to Velasco and the journalist. Vicki-the voluptuous waitress they all share, and the journalist that we try to understand to but ultimately fail to because all the reader can do is feel sorry for him for getting into this lifestyle.

The writer borrows from the cinematic arts to produce a highly graphic and abrupt ending to his chapters. The language is vulgar, as expected in this type of novel-without becoming a burden to its plot.  The use of over top violence, drug dealings and illicit sex are de rigueur in this genre.  However, the ending is unpredictable and make this novel an interesting addition to the genre.

Ignacio Escolar is a journalist too and it seems to be a homage to journalist everywhere who look for a bit more excitement, and then don’t know how to handle it until it is way too late. The “happy ending” is that he does not wind up in the bucket from the first chapter or scene, but in Berlin with a new identity-without his wife, kids and the nights at Premium discotheque to comfort him.

The noir genre is popular everywhere and his use of cinema style writing is also easy to translate. The drawbacks are that the novel is a bit short to actually understand and develop the characters, Escolar is a good writer and this is a good start for his first work of fiction.

 

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