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Dark Tangos
After the breakup of his marriage and his forced relocation to Buenos Aires, Rob Cavanaugh’s life was going downhill fast. Until he met Elena.
She was smart and beautiful and danced like a dread. But she had a history that she said he could never understand, a history that went back to the Dirty War of the 1970s, when government death squads brought a new word to the the Disappeared.
Then he learned that the past is never over in Argentina. Beyond the bright lights and the romantic tango music were the open wounds of kidnapping, torture, and betrayal—and one last chance for redemption.
She was smart and beautiful and danced like a dread. But she had a history that she said he could never understand, a history that went back to the Dirty War of the 1970s, when government death squads brought a new word to the the Disappeared.
Then he learned that the past is never over in Argentina. Beyond the bright lights and the romantic tango music were the open wounds of kidnapping, torture, and betrayal—and one last chance for redemption.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 28, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 3, 2017
A wonderful book, are all Shiner's works have been. A deep and soulful story of a mid-life American man who has followed a job transfer, and his love for tango, to a new life in Argentina after the failure of his marriage. What follows is a well-paced thriller that starts with a dark-eyed beauty at his new job in Buenos Aires (no, it does not come off as a cliche at all), proceeds through the current-day reverberations of Argentina's "Dirty War," proceeds through a gripping (but absolutely necessary) first-person account of torture, and resolves with a life back on track, with a long-sought and deeply loving connection at its core. Shiner writes wonderfully, and manages to set his tale against the passions and intricacies of learning to tango, an improbable pairing that only a practitioner could construct, but that anyone can understand and relate to. It works. Another top performance--bravo.
September 26, 2011
Lewis Shiner clearly isn't the most well known of writers. He publishes through Subterranean Press, rather than Harper Collins or Doubleday, and I'm not entirely sure he doesn't have a day job.
I can perhaps see why... he does often cover a lot of ground in his novels. This one (more reminiscent of his 'Deserted Cities of the Heart' for me, than anything) is a love story/thriller heavily featuring Tango/Modern Argentinian History/Torture. Black and White took on Inter-Racial Romance/Voodoo/Modern Durham History. A better-selling writer might either cover less or take a lot longer to do it.
But Lewis Shiner can keep up an irresistable page-turning narrative like John Le Carre. And his characters and settings might not be realistic, but its sure more interesting than reading another arrogant, divorced NY homicide detective or another ex-military Mercenary.
I don't think there should ever be any criticism of Lewis Shiner, just more people tackling the subjects he tackles and more narratives you can swim in, or perhaps dance in... lose yourself to like a Tango, or a Laurie Moss song.
Very enjoyable, without reducing itself to anyone's level.
I can perhaps see why... he does often cover a lot of ground in his novels. This one (more reminiscent of his 'Deserted Cities of the Heart' for me, than anything) is a love story/thriller heavily featuring Tango/Modern Argentinian History/Torture. Black and White took on Inter-Racial Romance/Voodoo/Modern Durham History. A better-selling writer might either cover less or take a lot longer to do it.
But Lewis Shiner can keep up an irresistable page-turning narrative like John Le Carre. And his characters and settings might not be realistic, but its sure more interesting than reading another arrogant, divorced NY homicide detective or another ex-military Mercenary.
I don't think there should ever be any criticism of Lewis Shiner, just more people tackling the subjects he tackles and more narratives you can swim in, or perhaps dance in... lose yourself to like a Tango, or a Laurie Moss song.
Very enjoyable, without reducing itself to anyone's level.
June 11, 2017
This is a thriller and love story set during a very dark time in recent world history.
Rob Cavanaugh's life has hit the skids. He is separated from Lauren, his wife, and Universal Software, his employer, has transferred him to their office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There, he falls for Elena, and they dance a lot of the tango. In Argentina, the tango is more than "just" a dance; it is part of the national soul.
Rob also learns that Elena is part of Argentina's "dirty war." During the 1970's, a series of military governments arrested, tortured and killed thousands and thousands of political opponents, under the guise of fighting communism. America was a supporter of these military governments. This is the period that gave the world the noun "disappeared." Elena's mother was such an opponent. Mother and daughter were separated at birth, and Elena was given to another family to raise as their own.
Elena's real father, also a political opponent, is still alive, but he has to be very careful. The military governments may be gone, but the mindset of killing political opponents, and torturing anyone who gets in the way, is still very much alive. Robe finds that out first-hand when he is kidnapped, and brutally tortured for several days. He is rescued, and while in hospital, Lauren suddenly appears, and whisks him away to America for medical treatment. Is this the end of Rob and Elena? Does Rob return to Argentina?
This is an excellent story, where the reader will learn more than they ever wanted to know about the tango. It has great characters, and plenty of action, and it also explores the meaning of justice. It is very much worth reading.
Rob Cavanaugh's life has hit the skids. He is separated from Lauren, his wife, and Universal Software, his employer, has transferred him to their office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There, he falls for Elena, and they dance a lot of the tango. In Argentina, the tango is more than "just" a dance; it is part of the national soul.
Rob also learns that Elena is part of Argentina's "dirty war." During the 1970's, a series of military governments arrested, tortured and killed thousands and thousands of political opponents, under the guise of fighting communism. America was a supporter of these military governments. This is the period that gave the world the noun "disappeared." Elena's mother was such an opponent. Mother and daughter were separated at birth, and Elena was given to another family to raise as their own.
Elena's real father, also a political opponent, is still alive, but he has to be very careful. The military governments may be gone, but the mindset of killing political opponents, and torturing anyone who gets in the way, is still very much alive. Robe finds that out first-hand when he is kidnapped, and brutally tortured for several days. He is rescued, and while in hospital, Lauren suddenly appears, and whisks him away to America for medical treatment. Is this the end of Rob and Elena? Does Rob return to Argentina?
This is an excellent story, where the reader will learn more than they ever wanted to know about the tango. It has great characters, and plenty of action, and it also explores the meaning of justice. It is very much worth reading.
May 21, 2019
Another entertaining and gripping read from the always interesting Lew Shiner. The book is narrated in first person, an American called Robert Cavanaugh,, a Yuppy divorcee computer programmer who gets deployed by his multi national corporation in Beunos Airies, Argentina. To make his miserable yuppy life more interesting he gets invloved in a Tango dancing club and soon meets a hot latino lady and they have a passionate affair that soon turns dark. Hence the Dark Tango. American Imperialism, the CIA, death squads and Sikhism soon ensue, and the complex metaphor of Tango dancing is always prevalent throughout the story. Shiner delivers another compelling and exquisitely researched, plot driven, pot pouri of modern, generally American, historical issues that are always timged with a sinidter darkness. His critique of American imperialism is always spot on within an accessible read. Maybe thats why thats why he isnt more
Mainstream, Americans dont like to admit they suck!
Mainstream, Americans dont like to admit they suck!
October 15, 2018
Great story about personal costs of corporate green
Shiner does a great job here of digging into Argentina’s history and how the murderous dictatorial past, which American companies profited so richly from, can have cruel repercussions for many decades to come. There’s a torture scene that I think goes on to long.
Shiner does a great job here of digging into Argentina’s history and how the murderous dictatorial past, which American companies profited so richly from, can have cruel repercussions for many decades to come. There’s a torture scene that I think goes on to long.
April 23, 2014
Sticking with the Argentina theme after Blood Makes Noise I read this book, which is available as a free PDF from the author. This is the story of a middle aged US coder and tango enthusiast who is relocated to his company's Buenos Aires office to cut costs. He meets a mysterious younger woman; sparks fly on and off the dance floor, and they fall in love. He learns of her dark secret, which is connected to the nation's past, and things get rather dangerous for him.
Basically this is a full-on romance novel, but nearer the end it takes a surprisingly dark turn. The strengths are in the description of milieu, atmosphere and supporting characters. The plot itself is rather simple and straightforward. The killings of the Argentinian military regime have been dramatized e.g. in the film "Garage Olimpo", which is very impressive but rather hard to watch. The torture scenes in this book, which come as a rather sharp shock after the sappy romance, are maybe even more harrowing. Toward the end I was fully prepared for a downer ending, but the book ended with a bright note.
There is a lot of emphasis on the culture and technicalities of tango dancing, with which I have absolutely no experience. At times it feels like the author is showing off his homework a bit too much. To be fair, he obviously knows his Buenos Aires and brings it alive.
One minor thing: at one point Elena addresses Beto with the feminine form "querida" instead of "querido".
Basically this is a full-on romance novel, but nearer the end it takes a surprisingly dark turn. The strengths are in the description of milieu, atmosphere and supporting characters. The plot itself is rather simple and straightforward. The killings of the Argentinian military regime have been dramatized e.g. in the film "Garage Olimpo", which is very impressive but rather hard to watch. The torture scenes in this book, which come as a rather sharp shock after the sappy romance, are maybe even more harrowing. Toward the end I was fully prepared for a downer ending, but the book ended with a bright note.
There is a lot of emphasis on the culture and technicalities of tango dancing, with which I have absolutely no experience. At times it feels like the author is showing off his homework a bit too much. To be fair, he obviously knows his Buenos Aires and brings it alive.
One minor thing: at one point Elena addresses Beto with the feminine form "querida" instead of "querido".
July 26, 2011
This takes a reasonably honest look at the political repression in Argentina and its modern day consequences. In terms of genre, this is a political thriller with an innocent man who gets caught up in a situation which leads to revelations about abuse of power and corruption. It contains some fairly graphic descriptions of torture so you should not read this unless you are comfortable with this kind of content. I liked it although, by by standards, it was a bit wordy.
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November 21, 2011
It gets Buenos Aires geography about 80% right, the characters don't sound mexican, and there's only two or three phrases with mismatched genders.
This may appear to be faint praise, but trust me, it's head and shoulders above the average non-argentinian fiction in that respect, including (specially!) that written by other spanish-speaking writers.
The story itself is sort of thin, and lays the mystic "tango is a dark dance" way too thick, but that was to be expected just from the title.
I got this as a free PDF from Boing Boing, and it's not bad.
This may appear to be faint praise, but trust me, it's head and shoulders above the average non-argentinian fiction in that respect, including (specially!) that written by other spanish-speaking writers.
The story itself is sort of thin, and lays the mystic "tango is a dark dance" way too thick, but that was to be expected just from the title.
I got this as a free PDF from Boing Boing, and it's not bad.
September 22, 2011
When I started the book, not knowing anything about the author, I expected something in the genre of "American who thinks he's so cool at home in an exotic culture." That is not what this is about. A great novel, full of suspense, emotion, romance, and pain. I must say that I while I did not find the May-November couple believable (who ever does?) the writer deserves an a for effort. And the girl needs to be young for the chronology of the plot to work. I plan to get hold of Shiner's other books--based on this one he is a very good novelist.
January 10, 2015
An enjoyable reading. The writing was nothing spectacular but the story was engaging and I loved reading about all of the familiar places in Buenos Aires. The historical aspect seemed well researched but could have been better integrated in parts.
September 7, 2011
I recognized many of the places in BA & remember the tango bar scene, so I was interested. First part moves slowly, but then gains momentum. Torture scenes very realistic.
February 20, 2013
A moving story, about a couple who meet in Buenos Aires and how their relationship is affected by the cruel regime in Argentina
May 30, 2015
A great book. I learnt a lot about the history of Argentina in the process.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews