Hat Dance: A Novel

by Michael A. Thomas

Rural Mexico is the setting for this fast-moving comic adventure story about a team of journalists who set out to investigate a rumored rebellion and film the infamous Fiesta de Santiago Apóstol in the Indian village of Huatepac. American journalist Lee White, his partner Checo Rivera, Lee's filmmaker daughter and her cameraman/boyfriend, and villagers Felipe and Elena Piñeda are objects of scorn and suspicion to Lieutenant Campos, a rapacious military bureaucrat, and Sam Cooke, the American soldier of fortune who is in the business of crushing the rebellion that's drawn Lee and Checo to the Sierra.
"A wonderful yarn that succeeds in taking the reader on a journey of suspense, compassion, and desire for justice. Anyone who has had guns aimed at them by federales or soldiers will recognize the frustration of not having a gun to shoot back. Anyone who has listened to the ethnomusicological cacophony that distinguishes rural fiestas, or witnessed the matanza of a pig, or felt and smelled the intestinal agonies within 'the fatherland of diarrhea,' or fallen in love in the Mexican hinterland will feel at home in this book."-Jack Loeffler, author of Adventures with A Portrait of Abbey

245 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2004

Reviews

[Radine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book and am currently taking a summer writing class from Dr. Michael Thomas. I thought that he was able to vividly describe his characters. I learned many new colorful words in Spanish and found his narrative well-written. It kept me wanting to learn what would happen to the characters next and in what trouble they would find themselves.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing because I'd thoroughly enjoyed two previous novels by this author. It had its moments, though.