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Rating: 
Summary: Too much Ecuador, not enough mystery
Review: Although Wishnia knows a lot about Ecuador (more than anyone needs to know), the elements of mystery fall flat. The tangled, disjointed threads of plots are hard to follow and, generally, not worth a lot of effort. The character of Filomena is tough as a nut, self-centered, militantly left-wing in her thinking. Generally, an unsympathetic bore. It's hard to maintain interest in her.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing Character, Nice Details, Flat Ending
Review: Filomena Buscarsela is an interesting protagonist, one of themore convincing female characters created by a male author that I'verecently read. Intriguing tidbits about her Central American homelandare inserted throughout the story, along with a critical dissection of the political, musical, artistic and social trends in the early 80's, when the story takes place. The plot itself is fairly convoluted, and while Mr. Wishnia excels in dialogue, scene descriptions and the protagonist's wry fourth-wall commentary, I found the rambling storyline hard to follow after a while. The subplots (especially Filomena's stint with the INS and her relationship with her French lover) were often more interesting than the main plot, but many of them were left hanging, unresolved, as the story progressed. Finally, the dots are connected in the last few chapters with lightning speed, with that "uh-oh, better wind this up in a hurry" je-ne-sais-quoi that plagues many otherwise enjoyable books...The ending really fell flat for me. END
Rating: 
Summary: A breath of fresh air in the female detective genre.
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was a great change of pace after reading books by Marcia Muller, Sue Grafton, Linda Barnes, etc. The main character's is tough and knows how to hold her own with the male Police officers. This is a great read after reading a lot of (although enjoyable) "formula" books. Her world is not pretty and she exhibits many of the character flaws of someone constantly dealing with the "scum of the earth", as well as the pressures of being a minority in a man's world. Her toughness reminds me of the first time I read V.I. Warshawski. I liked the grittyness and unexpected references to world events and history. I can't wait to read the next book!
Rating: 
Summary: Humourous... Sharp Narration !
Review: Overall, it was a pretty good read. The really fresh thing about this book was that it featured a tough Latina. I happen to like tough Latina's. The book starts off really good. The middle is really good too. However, in the end when Filomena meets face to face with the bad guy I really, really, really wanted Filomena to....Oh, well I guess you have to read the book!
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