Desperado: A Mile High Noir

by Manuel Ramos

Gus Corral can’t quite believe it when an old high school buddy he hasn’t seen in years asks him for help. Artie Baca looks as cool as ever; the hippest guy in high school now looks like a GQ cover boy, Chicano style. And like always, Artie has women problems, even though he’s married. He’s being blackmailed because of an imprudent fling—caught on video, of course. Artie has a prosperous real estate business and can afford to pay off the young girl, but he’ll reward Gus handsomely for his help in convincing her that there won’t be any future payments.

Gus’s life hasn’t been as successful; he manages his ex-wife’s second hand shop after losing his job in the recession and claims to also work as the night watchman so he can live there too. He can really use the money Artie is offering and agrees to help, even though he knows Artie probably deserves the shake down.

But before Gus can deliver the money, Artie is dead and the police want to know why the deceased was carrying a check made out to his old high school chum. And when an armed stranger breaks into the shop in the dead of night, Gus knows there’s more to the situation than meets the eye. An investigation into Artie’s involvement in the gentrification of Denver’s north side leads to harrowing encounters with dangerous criminals, both from the area and south of the border. Suddenly Gus is ensnared in the theft of one of the most revered religious symbols in the Catholic Latino world, a cloak bearing the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe. He's caught between warring gangs, and soon he and the people he cares about most are in a life-and-death predicament.

Manuel Ramos returns to novel-length crime fiction with this gripping story that twists and turns like a roller coaster, where the outlook is grim and there’s no honor among thieves.

Praise for the work of Manuel

"A very impressive debut." --Los Angeles Times on The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz

“A thickly atmospheric first novel—with just enough mystery to hold together a powerfully elegiac memoir of the heady early days of Chicano activism.”—Kirkus Reviews on The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz

"Ramos succeeds brilliantly in marrying style and substance to form a seamlessly entertaining novel [with] characters and scenes deeply etched with admirable brevity and skill."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review, on Blues for the Buffalo

MANUEL RAMOS is the recipient of several literary awards and the author of numerous novels, including King of the Chicanos (Wings Press, 2010), A Luis Montez Mystery (University of New Mexico Press, 2003) and The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz (St. Martin’s Press, 1993; Northwestern University Press, 2004), and Edgar Award finalist. He lives and works in Denver, Colorado.

Genres: Mystery

244 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2013

About the author

Manuel Ramos, a retired lawyer, is the author of eight published novels, five of which feature Denver lawyer Luis Móntez. For his professional and community service he has received the Colorado Bar Association’s Jacob V. Schaetzel Award, the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association’s Chris Miranda Award, the Spirit of Tlatelolco Award, and others. His fiction has garnered the Colorado Book Award, the Chicano/Latino Literary Award, the Top Hand Award from the Colorado Authors League, and three Honorable Mentions from the Latino International Book Awards. The Móntez series debuted with The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz (1993), a finalist for the Edgar® award from the Mystery Writers of America. His published works include the mainstream novel King of the Chicanos (2010), several short stories, poems, non-fiction articles and a handbook on Colorado landlord-tenant law, now in a sixth edition. He is a co-founder of and regular contributor to La Bloga (www.labloga.blogspot.com), an award-winning Internet magazine devoted to Latino literature, culture, news, and opinion. His latest novel, Desperado: A Mile High Noir, was published by Arte Público Press in March, 2013, and won the Colorado Book Award in the Mystery category.

Reviews

[Westminster Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ex-con Gus Corral manages his ex-wife's second hand shop and also serves as the "night watchman" so his life isn't exactly firing on all cylinders. When an old high school buddy reaches out to him for help he jumps at the chance but things get really hairy when the friend winds up dead. This unleashes a chain of events that Gus could never have imagined. Author Ramos is a Colorado native and his familiarity with both the topography and the current issues in the state are evident. This is a noir in the tradition of those loner PIsand and is well worth a read.

FindDesperado: A mile High Noir at the Westminster Public Library!

[Sharon Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and entertaining read, with a shocking ending that I did not see coming. The scene is set in the North Denver Chicano neighborhoods of the Obama era told in the first person by a young man named Gus. His life is messed up, living in the back of a second hand store, owned by his ex-wife, Sylvia. An old high school buddy named Artie shows up and offers him a thousand dollars to pay off an underage woman who is blackmailing him to keep quiet about their affair. Gus needs the money, but before he can earn it, Artie is found dead and all hell breaks lose. The police are sniffing around, as are the local gangs and Gus is suddenly in big trouble. The thrills continue with kidnapping, plots, and shootouts. Great characters and crisp dialogue make this a real page turner. Why have I never heard of this author?

[Josh Massey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A grippingly archetypal noir that doesn't fail to intrigue the reader.

[Andy Janes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read from a local author, set in a Denver from just a few years ago.