Contraband

by Charlie Vázquez

This riveting work of Latino noir follows the paranoid underworld exile of Volfango Sanzo, a man so haunted by his secrets that he escapes to sprawling networks of underground tunnels and labyrinths in near-future America—where dissidents and “lunars” seek refuge from the smoldering ruins of a nation plagued by a deadly civil war and revolution. Volfango is certain that renegade genes in his DNA will be exposed by government-mandated “gene tests,” so he vanishes before his scheduled test date, terrified of being discovered and executed. He also suspects he is being hunted by a government ministry, who wishes to silence him before he speaks. What will he find in those dangerous underground worlds populated by rebels and pariahs? What secrets does he keep and will he survive against bleak odds?

ebook

First published April 1, 2010

About the author

Charlie Vázquez is the author of the novel Contraband (Rebel Satori, 2010). His fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous anthologies, including “The Death Angel of Santurce”, featured in San Juan Noir (Akashic, 2016). He coedited the anthology From Macho to Mariposa: New Gay Latino Fiction (Lethe, 2011) and appears in the graphic novel collection Ricanstruction (Somos Arte, 2018), which donates proceeds to hurricane relief in Puerto Rico. He contributed to the anthology Crashing Cathedrals (ITNA, 2019), which features essays by authors on their favorite Edmund White books. His latest collection of stories, Fantasmas: Puerto Rican Tales of the Dead, will come out in April 2020. Charlie directed the BCA Bronx Writers Center from 2014-2018 and lives in the Bronx.

Reviews

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more of a meditation on human beings as contraband material than the exploration of dystopian life I expected, but still quite good. Book 3 was particularly well written. I don't know much about Latino noir, but I know that I liked this novel.

[Joshua]

is an amazing book!!!