Silence the Bird, Silence the Keeper

by Christopher David Rosales

In Christopher David Rosales’ first novel, 'Silence the Bird, Silence the Keeper', he creates a completely unique vision that seamlessly blends tropes of magical realism and dystopian fiction in a portrait of power in America that we’ve never seen before. Imagine it as the communal love child of Marquez, Bolaño, and Orwell, a child who inhabits an America that resembles Pinochet’s Chile, and yet feels uncannily (and frighteningly) familiar to present day Los Angeles. A world in which street assassin Tre, a young and much beloved brother and son, finds himself caught in a city where all its citizens, even its most dangerous, are potential targets in the on-going power struggle between an authoritarian military regime and a not-so-community friendly guerrilla force. As Percival Everett says, “This novel treats revolution, love, betrayal and magic with equal adeptness and intelligence. In a world that is at once ours and foreign Rosales makes characters that will be remembered when the novel is done.

Genres: Fiction

195 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2015

About the author

Christopher David Rosales' fiction has appeared in anthologies, journals, and magazines, in the U.S. and abroad. His literary political-intrigue novel, 'Silence the Bird, Silence the Keeper' (Mixer Publishing, 2015), won the McNamara Family Creative Arts Grant. Previously he won the Center of the American West's award for fiction three years in a row, and was a finalist for the Faulkner-Wisdom Award. His second novel, 'Gods on the Lam,' (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing, 2017) is a sci-fi thriller. He has a PhD from The University of Denver, where he was recently honored with the Doctoral Research Award. Rosales is an Assistant Professor at the Jack Kerouac School at Naropa University. His newest book, the crime-thriller 'Word is Bone' (Broken River Books) is available now.

Reviews

[Mary Kay McBrayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a dystopian novel saturated in a cinematic, fever-dream magic, Silence the Bird, Silence the Keeper will feel like it was written for you. Christopher David Rosales’ visceral criminal plotline weaves passionate characters to and through one another in such a grimy, intricate way that it’s hard to detract the mind from its crisp images and actions alone, let alone the sometimes-sexy, sometimes-grotesque, never-mutually-exclusive-of-either-adjective relationships among the characters, nor the edge-of-the-seat, what’s-gonna-happen-to-him/her (“Surely s/he’s not going to die? No! Not yet! How could Rosales do this to us? S/he was my favorite!”) scrape-with-death panic that seduces you back to its pages.

Add it to your cart. I’m really not overselling it. Probably, you’ll love it.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a future, dystopian world, the city of Los Angeles is a dangerous place where the authoritarian military and the guerrillas are in constant battle. In this Los Angeles, a young man, Rudy the Third, also known as Tre, finds quick and easy money working for the guerrillas as an assassin. Tre is the son to a professor who may sometimes teach things that the military would rather he not teach and the brother to an extraordinarily smart sister who finds herself in love with a military Captain. When Tre receives a hit on his father, things begin to get confusing and Tre begins to question his place in life.

We are immediately thrown into a scary world that draws many parallels to today's world and issues. This book took me a little while to get into, the narrative is a story being told from mother to son, who is not concerned about why the world is the way it is or how it got that way. Therefore, I didn't know where exactly we were in time or why Los Angeles is the way it is. The aspects that did absorb me into the book were the dramatic and graphic assaults as well as the emotions of the characters. Each character goes on an emotional rollercoaster and the journey is in their experiences. I did find myself gravitating to Tre's sister, Nora throughout the book and was very interested in the decisions that she would make. Overall, a raw and passionate story of revolution.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

[William III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosales' prose is spectacular, I underlined more than one exquisite passage, to relish for years to come. This deadly tale of a family line working with and in opposition to a military dictatorship that has swallowed Los Angeles whole. This work is exuberant and celebratory, even as tragedy after tragedy piles on to the family. Rosales' descriptions of a living, breathing community reminds us that regardless of who is in power, it is the love for one another that binds and faces oppression head on: chin up, armored-plated leather jacket and all.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing first novel. It's like reading art, tragic and beautiful, brutal and lovely. It reminded me a lot Cormac McCarthy or Brian Evenson.

The story twists around a poor town and what people do to survive when you have the military on one side and guerrillas on the other.

It might take a minute to get used to the writing style, but once you do, you'll see that Christopher David Rosales paints a vivid picture.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christopher David Rosales writes like a poet; there is not a wasted word in this lyrical dystopian novel, which is why it has 3 stars. I was so caught up in the prose, I lost the story which is far more complex than the books length would suggest. After reading this, I'm reaching for Jane Austen.

[Claire Casso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher David Rosales demonstrates incredible skill in crafting characters that are worthy of our not only our attention, but our affection as well. From the opening of the book, he reminds us that we all have stories and these stories that are “whispered round” in our city squares and amongst our families, are what shape our lives and provide the background from which we eventually learn how to grow and behave.

His remarkable attention to detail and his ability to draw from a rich literary tradition fuels our investment in the characters and makes them seem at once familiar and unique. For example, his decision to name one of his main characters “Nora” calls to mind the most famous Nora of Western literature (Nora Helmer in Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”). This signpost serves to guide us in our interpretation of Rosales’ Nora and calls attention to questions regarding freedom, captivity, and the institution of marriage.

Lastly, Rosales asks us to think about what it would truly mean to escape our current conditions. If what we desire most is a “way out,” what is it that we are willing to give up and leave behind? How much of ourselves are we willing to change in order to gain what it is that we want?

Rosales’ novel is a beautiful meditation on family and sacrifice. It is a story that is worthy of being “whispered round” for years to come.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never read anything quite like this. Rosales' prose is stunningly beautiful. His word choice is breathtaking; each word a note in some dystopian symphony.
I especially enjoyed the use of first-person plural narration, something that was remarkably executed in Jeffrey Eugenides' "The Virgin Suicides".
I won't share my favorite passage here, but this example is a close second:
"Tre looked down the alley like the near past were a place just a ways back that maybe he could still get to."

[Gene · Rating 5 out of 5]

So proud of you, Chris! Very visual writing and creative imagination of a world gone awry. Congrats! Looking forward to more.

[Sami Jo]

Incredible writing from a local Denver author. Very timely, given the current political climate, and one that will get you thinking.