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Cabrones Perros
In this beach town, where tourists party day and night, crime takes no vacation. Cabrones Perros is a rum-soaked crime-comedy in the style of Elmore Leonard's Swag and Stick . Though it can be read as a standalone piece, it concludes Manny Torres' Dog Trilogy.
Fresh out of prison, ex-boxer Nolin is tasked with going to Odyssey, Florida, to have a man killed. On a parallel course are several underworld characters with their own agendas for heading into this crime-riddled city. Enforcers are en route to establish the family business on the Florida coast. This includes Shank, who was last seen in Perras Malas , dead-set on vengeance against those who killed her family. There is also the upcoming gangstress Shady, who's doing a soft takeover while going up against a family of Eastern-European human-traffickers on the brink of owning the city.
These groups converge where drugs are cheap and human-trafficking is prevalent. There's a slow war gaining ground on all sides, clashing over the waterside territory. It can only end with scorched sand and severed heads.
Fresh out of prison, ex-boxer Nolin is tasked with going to Odyssey, Florida, to have a man killed. On a parallel course are several underworld characters with their own agendas for heading into this crime-riddled city. Enforcers are en route to establish the family business on the Florida coast. This includes Shank, who was last seen in Perras Malas , dead-set on vengeance against those who killed her family. There is also the upcoming gangstress Shady, who's doing a soft takeover while going up against a family of Eastern-European human-traffickers on the brink of owning the city.
These groups converge where drugs are cheap and human-trafficking is prevalent. There's a slow war gaining ground on all sides, clashing over the waterside territory. It can only end with scorched sand and severed heads.
244 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2023
4 people want to read
About the author
Manny Torres
6 books33 followersOriginally from Brooklyn, NY, Manny Torres resides in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also a photographer and painter. In addition to writing Dead Dogs, he's written articles for My Darling Atlanta, and written and directed several documentaries and music videos, including "Change Your Mind" by Sara Rachelle, The Trespasser, Unendangered Species, and The Abby Go Go Christmas Special. For 15 years he was a music programmer and co-conspirator on Step Outside: The Strange and Beautiful Music program on WMNF 88.5FM in Florida. He's worked as a photographer, graphic designer, sold insurance, written training manuals for a large corporation, and managed a touring rock band. He occasionally curates film and art shows around Atlanta. He is currently editing a series of crime novels, as well as a supernatural western.
Dead Dogs is his debut novel, part of the Dog Trilogy. The novella Father Was a Rat King and the novel Perras Malas were released in 2022. The final book in the trilogy, Cabrones Perros, was released in 2023.
Dead Dogs is his debut novel, part of the Dog Trilogy. The novella Father Was a Rat King and the novel Perras Malas were released in 2022. The final book in the trilogy, Cabrones Perros, was released in 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 8, 2023
Nolin, just out of prison, returns reluctantly to his childhood home of Odyssey, a wild and woolly beach town in South Florida. He's got two reasons for going: his sister is getting married, and his boss wants him to carry a packet to an extremely shady character Nolin knew (and loathed) when he was a school kid.
So much for the plot. Manny Torres--a writer's writer if there ever was one--is all about atmosphere and characters, especially characters. Also crime, especially violent crime. When Nolin arrives in Odyssey, he finds himself emersed in a growing maelstrom of greed, corruption, and mayhem. The old mobsters who ran the city's underworld are either dead or toothless, and the power vacuum they've left behind is a beacon for a new generation of wannabe crime lords seeking money and power. Drugs are passe in this new world. Human trafficking is where it's at for the new breed of criminal entrepreneurs.
To this volatile mix, add the elemental force known as Shank from Torres's earlier work, Perras Malas. Fueled by rage, and accompanied (perhaps) by Kika (also from Perras Malas), she simply wants vengeance, the bloodier the better, and woe betide anyone standing in her way. But my favorite character is the easily distracted Angelito, a baby-faced man-child who happily counts the stars when he's not busy using his machetes to reduce his targeted victims to their component parts.
We run into a couple of dozen other colorful characters in Odyssey, many of them larger-than-life, if not downright supernatural. They fade into and out of the book like bad dreams. It's easy to lose track of them, but that's Odyssey for you, a kaleidoscope of sounds, colors, passions, and bitter disappointments with little clarity. Nolin himself fades in and out, touching on other people's stories while remaining ignorant of many of the important events going on around him. By the end, all he wants is out.
Cabrones Perros is a truly fascinating book, a journey through Hell, and readers will leave a part of themselves behind long after they've read the final page. Not for the squeamish, but a feast for fans of transgressional neo-noir.
So much for the plot. Manny Torres--a writer's writer if there ever was one--is all about atmosphere and characters, especially characters. Also crime, especially violent crime. When Nolin arrives in Odyssey, he finds himself emersed in a growing maelstrom of greed, corruption, and mayhem. The old mobsters who ran the city's underworld are either dead or toothless, and the power vacuum they've left behind is a beacon for a new generation of wannabe crime lords seeking money and power. Drugs are passe in this new world. Human trafficking is where it's at for the new breed of criminal entrepreneurs.
To this volatile mix, add the elemental force known as Shank from Torres's earlier work, Perras Malas. Fueled by rage, and accompanied (perhaps) by Kika (also from Perras Malas), she simply wants vengeance, the bloodier the better, and woe betide anyone standing in her way. But my favorite character is the easily distracted Angelito, a baby-faced man-child who happily counts the stars when he's not busy using his machetes to reduce his targeted victims to their component parts.
We run into a couple of dozen other colorful characters in Odyssey, many of them larger-than-life, if not downright supernatural. They fade into and out of the book like bad dreams. It's easy to lose track of them, but that's Odyssey for you, a kaleidoscope of sounds, colors, passions, and bitter disappointments with little clarity. Nolin himself fades in and out, touching on other people's stories while remaining ignorant of many of the important events going on around him. By the end, all he wants is out.
Cabrones Perros is a truly fascinating book, a journey through Hell, and readers will leave a part of themselves behind long after they've read the final page. Not for the squeamish, but a feast for fans of transgressional neo-noir.
May 13, 2023
It’s been a wild ride
Cabrones is a perfect bookend to the Dog Trilogy. Like it’s predecessors, it has rich and colorful character development and unmistakable Manny Torres textures, violence and scenery. By the time you end this third book, you have been pleasantly reminded of past storylines in a hip and not-to-obvious fashion. I hope I get to experience some of these characters, that Manny has brought so vividly to life, in future reads. Definitely recommend.
Cabrones is a perfect bookend to the Dog Trilogy. Like it’s predecessors, it has rich and colorful character development and unmistakable Manny Torres textures, violence and scenery. By the time you end this third book, you have been pleasantly reminded of past storylines in a hip and not-to-obvious fashion. I hope I get to experience some of these characters, that Manny has brought so vividly to life, in future reads. Definitely recommend.
May 9, 2023
It’s been a wild ride
Cabrones is a perfect bookend to the Dog Trilogy. Like it’s predecessors, it has rich and colorful character development and unmistakable Manny Torres textures, violence and scenery. By the time you end this third book, you have been pleasantly reminded of past storylines in a hip and not-to-obvious fashion. I hope I get to experience some of these characters, that Manny has brought so vividly to life, in future reads. Definitely recommend.
Cabrones is a perfect bookend to the Dog Trilogy. Like it’s predecessors, it has rich and colorful character development and unmistakable Manny Torres textures, violence and scenery. By the time you end this third book, you have been pleasantly reminded of past storylines in a hip and not-to-obvious fashion. I hope I get to experience some of these characters, that Manny has brought so vividly to life, in future reads. Definitely recommend.
July 31, 2023
My first time reading a novel by Manny Torres but certainly not my last. I liked the protagonist, Nolin, a great deal. His unpleasant road trip as a passenger from Georgia to Florida was a highlight for me. Afterwards, Nolin's story is interspersed with vignettes about new characters, often committing acts of hyper-violence, as they make their way to the same destination as Nolin. No, CABRONES PERROS is not a traditionally plotted novel, but there's never a doubt that Torres isn't always in full control. "Technique is proof of seriousness," as the saying goes and Torres definitely has the skills of a more formulaic writer. A reader can feel assured that the author knows what he's doing amidst all the chaos on the page. The writer that came to my mind the most often while reading this novel is Barry Gifford, particularly his books PORT TROPIQUE and STRAIGHT MAN. I guess you'd label them avant-garde crime novels.
Final thought: I thought the closing lines of CABRONES PERROS were wonderful. Who doesn't like to gasp a little when they finish reading a book?
Final thought: I thought the closing lines of CABRONES PERROS were wonderful. Who doesn't like to gasp a little when they finish reading a book?
January 22, 2025
Wow. Phew! This book took my breath away not in a sexy way. It's a wild, fast-paced read, crime-riddled happening in a beach town where the underworld never takes a break. Manny masterfully blends crime and comedy in his books, with a very action-packed finale to the Dog Trilogy. His characters could easily step out of a Tarantino film or a gritty Elmore Leonard novel.
I recommend this to fans of films like Pulp Fiction, Scarface, no country for old men and Pusher trilogy.
I recommend this to fans of films like Pulp Fiction, Scarface, no country for old men and Pusher trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews