How Town

Rating:
Summary: Had me until the end.
Review: Henry Rios returns to his hometown to defend a man accused of murdering a child pornographer. Since his client remains ever elusive, Henry calls in every favor he can get. And the clues eventually help him believe his client. Michael Nava presents this good mystery that will make the readers think about laws and how twisted they become depending on the circumstances. I think that Henry Rios is finally alive in this book--maybe it has to do with the challenge of the case...or that he finally begins dealing with his past. The Spanish dialogue slows 'How Town' down a bit because there are no 'subtitles'. I wish the ending was better developed, though. A big scene occurs, then Henry is explaining the aftermath. Feels like a cheap shot to me.

Rating:
Summary: A great weekend read
Review: Just finished How Town. I enjoyed it and recommend it. The only criticism of the book is that I never felt satisfied about two things: 1) Why on earth did he take this case? At every turn the defendant, defendants wife, sister, police, DA,etc were on his back. Nava should have better articulated what was motivating Rios to take this case because I never got why he felt obliged to. Giving Rios a stronger motivation would have at least left me feeling content with the characterization. 2)I think Nava could have challenged the 'pedophilia is a harmless sexual orientation' rationalization shown by the defendant a little more than he did. In particular, with his dramatic ending there was a golden opportunity for a showdown with Mr. Windsor saying - look at what pedophilia has done to all these lives. It ain't pretty.

Rating:
Summary: Another Great Story From Our Best Mystery Writer
Review: Michael Nava is simply the best mystery writer I've ever read. His characters arise above stock characters to become people we care about, and his stories reach an emotional depth that many writers who consider them "serious" writers should envy. All the elements for failure are in this novel: incest, child pornography, child molestation, AIDS, national origin discrimination, the stigma of being gay, bigotted police officers. And yet from these diverse topics that would become cliches for a lesser talent, Mr. Nava produces a fine, believable story that rings true both psychogically and from a legal standpoint.

As always, Mr. Nava doesn't waste words. A detective who drinks too much is described as "Gimlet-eyed." Enough said. And Mr. Nava's observations are too true: in the words of our old friend, Henry Rios, the gay Hispanic lawyer in this series of mysteries: "Society is a conspiracy and everyone who's different is its target."

I read that this writer has written his last Henry Rios novel. Let's hope he is working on more good fiction.