The Country of Toó

by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, Stephen Henighan (Translator)

One of Crime Reads most anticipated LatinX Horror and Crime Fiction of 2023
This sumptuously written thriller asks probing questions about how we live with each other and with our planet. Raised on his wits on the streets of Central America, the Cobra, a young debt collector and gang enforcer, has never had the chance to discern between right and wrong, until he’s assigned the murder of Polo, a prominent human rights activist—and his friend. When his conscience gives him pause and his patrón catches on, a remote Mayan community offers the Cobra a potential refuge, but the people there are up against predatory mining companies. With danger encroaching, the Cobra is forced to confront his violent past and make a decision about what he’s willing to risk in the future, and who it will be for. Following the Cobra, Polo, a faction of drug-dealing oligarchs, and Jacobo, a child caught in the crosshairs, Rey Rosa maps an extensive web of corruption upheld by decades of political oppression. A scathing indictment of exploitation in all its forms, The Country of Toó is a gripping account of what it means to consider societal change under the constant threat of violence.

Genres: Thriller

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Rodrigo Rey Rosa is perhaps the most prominent writer on the Guatemalan literary scene. Along with the work of writers like Roberto Bolaño, Horacio Castellanos Moya, and Fernando Vallejo, Rey Rosa’s fiction has been widely translated and internationally acclaimed. His books include Dust on Her Tongue, The Beggar’s Knife, and The Pelcari Project, all of which were translated into English by the late Paul Bowles. In addition to his many novels and story collections, Rey Rosa has translated books by Bowles, Norman Lewis, François Augiéras, and Paul Léautaud.

Reviews

[Ruben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guatemalan author Rodrigo Rey Rosa has written over 20 books, but at times this novella felt like a debut.

The themes are important (Mayan minorities, environmentalism) and the setting (Central America) is lush and verdant. The first chapters were very intriguing (a terrible accident happens to a little boy), but then it became too much of a cheap thriller, including some very cringeworthy macho scenes . The last quarter feels particularly rushed, with strange jumps and unlikely reactions, and the writing is full of clichés. The plot is rather convoluted and wants to do a but too much (it has everything from corruption to assassins, to love stories and abandoned children). It was entertaining until it wasn't.

I picked this up because last year I discovered the brilliant Eduardo Halfón and wanted to read more Guatemalan authors, but unfortunately I enjoyed this less. It's very well possible this is one Rey Rosa's lesser works though!

[Michael Erickson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't tend to have the best luck with translated works, but that doesn't stop me from giving them a chance from time to time. I wasn't able to get past that odd ~extra degree of separation~ feeling though, and reading this book felt like it was resisting me.

There's obviously a ton of local nuances and references that are going to go over my head because I'm not familiar with Guatemala or contemporary Mayan communities, but I could follow the general conflicts and points of contention between the haves and have-nots, indigenous vs. industrialists, etc. What really tripped me up is that multiple characters seemed to have more than one name, and the narration was pretty liberal about switching between them. There were times I thought I was following two different people, only to later realize that it was just one. Maybe that was an intentional stylistic choice that worked better in the native Spanish, but it made things challenging to follow.

Other major events are sometimes handled "off-screen" and depictions of violence are described so quickly in so few words that I wasn't always sure what had actually happened. I'm thinking specifically of a protest-turned-mass-shooting (I think that's what happened?) that abruptly pivots to a subsequent funeral a few days later that I reread the passage twice, feeling like I had missed something.

I'm not trying to place blame on the translator or even the original author. Maybe this book just wasn't meant for me and I'm at peace with that.

[Andy Weston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This satirical tale of violence in Guatemalan society tells of a young aspiring hit man, Rafael, known as the Cobra, the illegitimate son of an investigating judge in the El Salvador, where as a boy he grew up on the streets and collected debts for a local gang.

To get him away from his high-flying social circles, his father gets him a job in Guatemala as bodyguard and driver for the wealthy Don Emilio Carrión, who arranges dodgy deals between the government and multinational companies. A human rights activist has been stirring up trouble with his verbal attacks on miners in Toó, a centre of Mayan culture in the affluent western highlands. The Cobra is charged with silencing him, but when he hears what the activist is actually saying, he becomes friends with him.

The plot does get confusing at times, but Rosa has a dark and dry humour that hold the interest.

[Julia Pérez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Representa muy bien la realidad de comunidades indígenas sometidas a la explotación y contaminación de sus tierras aunque en cuanto a la redacción aún existen áreas de oportunidad.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

El país de Toó es una apuesta narrativa por dos versiones contrapuestas: la historia ladina de hombres corruptos avasallando la historia indígena en Guatemala. Frente a la codicia de multinacionales mineras, a partir de la defensa del territorio durante la versión neoliberal de la conquista, las voces indígenas forjan actos poéticos y políticos de resistencia que defienden su historia en su lenguaje prehispánico y el derecho a existir como seres humanos en un lugar coercitivo que no reconoce sus derechos a vivir, poseer y decidir sobre su territorio. La apuesta de Rodrigo Rey Rosa atañe las comunidades indígenas como agentes de su relato histórico, frente a crueldades, corruptelas y mendicidades de quienes han estado en el poder y además continúan allí, valiéndose de un aparato judicial rudimentario y corrupto que les garantiza el robo sistemático de cualquier recurso y valida, además, la perpetuación de un sistema opresivo que únicamente beneficia a los ladinos.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rodrigo Rey Rosa is a favourite Latin American author of mine (loved human matter) and this book started as I expected: another banger from Rey Rosa. However, it turned into one of those it was really good until it suddenly wasn’t books… all of the parts of the story and subject matter were interesting, but it felt as though the plot got muddled and it was two books rather than one cohesive one.

Some of the themes of this one were really cool. Imperialism, environmentalism, resistance, all while being a face paced thriller.

This won’t stop me from reading Rey Rosa again, but it definitely wasn’t as good as his other works… 3.0

[Fiorella Coto · Rating 2 out of 5]

I visited Guatemala a couple of years ago so it gave me a nice feeling to read from that country. Unfortunately I have not come accross many Guatemalean writers.

The book had a strong start and touch quite a current point: the corruption of the elite. However it shifted and for me personally it all went down hill when they discovered the "treasure" and left Antigua. The book just stop making sense and the story lost its strong point to try to accomodate a more "left wing/environmental cause".

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pacing of this book was a little sticky for me and some bits were confusing. Cobra's character development was decent and his scenes were usually at least mildly suspenseful and the pacing was good. Polo's less so. The family plot with the Slaverer was interesting but felt somewhat underdeveloped. Overall, a decent crime novel about a man who learns to be good.

[Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiene buenos momentos. Muchas intrigas no llevan a mucho en términos dramáticos. De cara al último tramo se corre en acabar de manera demasiado fragmentaria. Algunas observaciones son sexistas, capacitistas y racistas.

[Jonathan yates · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have liked the other books I read, but this one was just flat and formulaic. Kind of confusing as it didn’t feel like the other stuff I’ve read at all.

[Mark Healey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente

[Daniel Polansky]

A gun-thug finds himself intertwined in the struggle of an indigenous central American community against a corrupt government and the forces of international capitalism.

[Sebastián Brito · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro parte muy bien, pero va cayendo en nivel a lo largo que avanza.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appreciate the lens, the zags the narrative takes, the attention to and respect for Indigenous resistance.

Just wish the pulpy bits hit harder. Still want to read more by this author.

[Mario Schievenini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rey Rosa me atrapó con el inicio de esta obra. Conocemos al Cobra desde el principio e iremos siendo testigo de los caminos que toma su vida voluntaria o involuntariamente. Más que nada, está novela es una imagen de la Guatemala actual, envuelta todavía en escándalos de corrupción, arrestos de empresarios y políticos. También es una instantánea de la actualidad vivida por los mayas fuera de la capital y su lucha contra las empresas poderosas con hambre de explotar los recursos naturales a toda costa.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like central Florida's Devil's Millhopper sinkhole guides you through multiple clammy ecosystems in a short hike, The Country of Toó casually guides you through equally clammy genres in it's short 200-page run: a foggy trek though a crumbling dynasty, a heist, the political eco-thriller, and all coated in a humid poetic fog.

[Ayelen Esker · Rating 3 out of 5]

La novela está muy bien escrita, aunque no he logrado empatizar con los personajes y algunas escenas me quedaron como incompletas. Sin embargo, la historia es entretenida y fácil de leer. Una crítica política y social sin excesos.