Death Squeeze

by Márcio Souza, Ellen Watson (Translator)

English (translation)
Original Portugese

321 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Márcio Gonçalves Bentes de Souza (Manaus, 4 de março 1946) era um jornalista, dramaturgo, editor, diretor de teatro e ópera, roteirista e romancista brasileiro.

Estudou Ciências Sociais na Universidade de São Paulo e escreveu críticas de cinema e artigos em diversos jornais e revistas brasileiras, como Senhor, Status, Folha de S.Paulo e A Crítica. Em 1976, lançou seu primeiro romance, Galvez: imperador do Acre, sucesso de crítica e de vendas. Como administrador, foi diretor de planejamento da Fundação Cultural do Amazonas, diretor da Biblioteca Nacional e presidente da Funarte. Foi professor assistente na Universidade de Berkeley e escritor residente nas universidades de Stanford, Austin e Dartmouth. Dirigiu o Teatro Experimental do Sesc (Tesc) do Amazonas.

Reviews

[Glenn Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strap yourself in and get ready for suspense and intrigue that's high times three: high tension, high voltage, high octane. Flashing back and forth between Rio de Janeiro and Paris, Brazilian author Marcio Souza’s 1984 novel, Death Squeeze, is a John Le Carré-style international thriller that’s so scorching hot I feel compelled to simply fire off the following bullets:

Voice - Mr. Souza’s writing is clear and crisp; reading his sentences is like taking deep gulps of fresh mountain air. To say the action is fast-paced would almost be understatement. Although the protagonists in Death Squeeze are themselves squeezed rather than the ones doing the squeezing, in a very real sense this novel reads like an adventure story.

Miguel Gouveia - Forced to give up the rank of captain and his military career for political reasons, forty-year-old husband and father Miguel is a man of high morals. He’s currently working as an advertising executive in Rio. In the first few pages he's drawn into bloodshed and savagery: after midnight, on a deserted street, he witnesses a stabbing; he’s chased by a car than on foot by two men armed with pistols; he circles back and clubs the guy watching their car; hearing more shots, he steals the car and drives off. And with each twisting and torquing of events, as if struggling in quicksand, Miguel sinks deeper and deeper.

Haidée Jeffet - One of Brazil's top fashion and clothing designers, she's Miguel's boss and has many political ties and connections both in Rio and Paris as her now dead husband was once a prominent ambassador. The more we read, the more we appreciate just how resourceful Haidée can be when she sets her eyes on what she wants.

Vivian de Castro - Exiled Brazilian in Paris. Vivian lives and breathes politics and has direct links with influential members of the Communist party. She despises all the right wing thuggery and brutality among the head honchos in Brazil and she isn’t shy about taking action that will turn Brazil's politics in a decidedly different direction.

Ruth Gouveia - Miguel's wife. When Miguel goes missing Ruth swings into action, which brings her into contact with all sort of characters, both hurtful and helpful, including Rosa, a hippie artist with a strong commitment to the practice of meditation.

Full Urban Spectrum - We move rapidly from Rio’s posh rich neighborhoods to its ramshackle favelas, from luxury hotels to cramped apartments in Paris as the squeezers inflict beatings, torture or death while the squeezed attempt to remain at least one step ahead of their pursuers.

Military and Police and Politics - Who’s in charge here? Is it the army or secret army or private army, the police, secret police or their political leaders? The shifting of power is so speedy, we might even question if anybody is squarely in charge other than those who happens to possess the greatest firepower at any given moment.

Eastern Philosophy – But maybe the real power and control resides in the forces of nature and the universe. Marcio Souza weaves the Eastern concepts of harmony, tranquility, karma, dharma, samsara and nirvana into his violent mix.

Drive – We are right there, from beginning to end, feeling squeezed and pressed from every direction as the story propels forward in overdrive. It's as if we hear the novel's soundtrack as we turn the pages - Philip Glass' Music with Changing Parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTzuZ...





Marcio Souza, born 1946 in the Amazonian region of Brazil, author of a number of novels set in the Amazon jungle, including his runaway best selling The Emperor of the Amazon

"At first, Miguel tried to explain. He insisted that he was not a saboteur, had no connection to and should not be lumped with the others, whatever they were up to. But as he got more worked up he began making accusations about the leadership and questioning the current role of the nation's armed forces. The general lost his composure completely and began thrashing and twirling about in his chair, letting loose a barrage of swear words and, finally, the ultimate accusation: Communist." Marcio Souza, Death Squeeze

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

PROTAGONIST: Miguel Gouveia
SETTING: Brazil; Paris
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Miguel Gouveia was a military man who left the service because of his principles and became an adman. He is summoned by his boss, Haidee Jeffet, to her home and eventually witnesses a murder. He is framed for the death and abducted. There’s a rather twisted plot involving some money stolen years earlier and now in a Swiss bank account. The action moves between Brazil and Paris. There’s a large cast of characters involving various police forces, Brazilian expats, military types and Miguel’s family. Although the settings were well done and the main characters interesting, there were too many competing factions to be able to make sense of the whole.

[Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Late 70s action adventure set in Brazil and France. Aldo, Col. Lyra's son is a murderer/rapist. Ex-captain Miguel gets embroiled in the chase for the swiss-bank account money of communist/terrorists whilst the corrupt officials seek the same. Wife Ruth and Rosa the hippie try to help Miguel, and Charlos and Vivian in Paris know half the info to access the account. Some deaths, chases etc

I appreciated the setting and story as a fictional rather film-like plot rather different to my usual Latin American literature choices. I did get a little confused near the end though and I'm not entirely sure there weren't a few loose ends.

[Craig Blois · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit predictable, but not a bad read.