SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

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That sentiment remains even still, now that I've finished the book. OH MAN. I loved it. Thanks, Older, for using roaches for the persistent creep-out factor--even if there weren't any zombies or freaky long-limbed High Priests, the roaches still would have done the trick. *shudder*

It was funny...I'm so used to Reza being a male Persian name--even when it was made clear that Reza was Puerto Rican--I still just assumed Reza was a he. I laughed so hard when I figured out otherwise, the second Reza chapter into it, then shouted, "Hell yeah!" and would've high-fived myself if that was a thing.

In this immediate aftermath, it's difficult for me to go through everything I loved without just recounting the entire damn thing...maybe I can come back to it. I've got a strong hunch about what's in store for Carlos next, judging from "Tenderfoot" in [b:Salsa Nocturna: Stories|13568836|Salsa Nocturna Stories|Daniel José Older|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333125349s/13568836.jpg|19147600], AND I AM SO HAPPY. I am so glad we got more of Kia in MTT; I'm going to keep my fingers crossed to see Gordo again and/or more of Baba Eddie on the next go-around. Kudos, DJO--you're on fire.

Excuse me while I go dig up some old school tango. ( )

This picks up a few months after Half-Resurrection Blues, and Carlos is still a bit of an emotional mess. There is some strange deaths in the park that he is investigating, and this takes him down a very complicated and twisty path of conspiracy and devious actions. Older is including the points of view this time. Kia’s and Reza’s viewpoints. I like Kia’s character I’m glad she is getting an expanded role. We also get to meet Reza, who is my favorite character I think. She has this bad ass attitude, that is absolutely not fake. She just oozes coolness and is scary too. It amazes me how well Older is able to switch between point of views for a seamless storytelling. This could have been very jolted, but his skills as a writer really shine. This story line goes off into a far more sinister and overreaching plot than the first book. It was not as lighthearted, but really well done. It has a lot of twits and turns but wraps up nicely, with room fo rate next one to fill in some blanks.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

This handled ALL the pacing and man pain quibbles I had with the first entry in this series, kept all the good stuff, and kept on world-building this "urban fantasy" Brooklyn. It was just great and entertaining and made me excited for the third book in the series. ( )

Right now you need to imagine me writing Kia's name over and over in sparkly glitter pen because she is just that wonderful.

While I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as I did the first in this series--but, hey, this is a 4 star book so I obviously enjoyed it very much--I really love the path it put Carlos and his friends on.

As always, Older is a poet. I could devour his words all day long. When he's writing Carlos, his words make my heart ache and soar simultaneously. Just beautiful. ( )

Midnight Taxi Tango
Author: Daniel Jose Older
Publisher: New American Library via Penguin Random House LLC
Date: 2016
Pgs: 322
Dewey: PBK - F OLD
Disposition: Irving Public Library, South Campus, Irving, TX
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
The streets of New York are hungry tonight...Carlos Delacruz straddles the line between the living and the not-so alive. As an agent for the Council of the Dead, he eliminates New York’s ghostlier problems. This time it’s a string of gruesome paranormal accidents in Brooklyn’s Von King Park that has already taken the lives of several locals—and is bound to take more.

The incidents in the park have put Kia on edge. When she first met Carlos, he was the weird guy who came to Baba Eddie's botánica, where she worked. But the closer they’ve gotten, the more she’s seeing the world from Carlos’s point of view. In fact, she’s starting to see ghosts. And the situation is far more sinister than that—because whatever is bringing out the dead, it’s only just getting started.
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Genre:
Amazon genre list

Why this book:
The ghosts are rising. Who you gonna call?
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Favorite Character:
Delacruz, Riley, Bell, Kia, Reza, and Charo...good characters.

Reza, Charo, and the Medianoche Car Service are great heavies, bad guys who do good by their own code. Great anti-heroes. Though in a world where dead guys come back to life as roach zombies, they’re just good guys.

Character I Most Identified With:
You feel these characters.

The Feel:
There is a great feel in this novel.

Favorite Scene / Quote:
The pink roach covered zombie drones being drawn in by Jeremy with Giovanni going all karate and judo on them in the garden. With poor Kia haunted by Giovanni after his disappearance a few weeks later. Though neither boy’s body is ever found.

Well done scenes every time the roach guys show up. Are they crawling on me? I think something is crawling on me. Yuck.

“Oh, this muthafucka.” ...that’s a whole chapter. And it is awesome. It’s perfect.

Pacing:
Love the way that the character focus narrative shifts perspective chapter to chapter.

Very well paced.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
If Rigo turns out to be a lesser bad, it is being telegraphed way too hard.

Hmm Moments:
When I first read the summary, I thought Ghostbusters. And then, in the opening, Carlos is sitting in an ambulance with his EMT friends who called him in on a park where the violent death rate is off the charts. Not sure if the ambulance is an intentional Gb touchstone or incidental, I like to think it’s intentional.

WTF Moments:
The roach man zombie swarm in the basement...damn, I need to brush my arms off and go stare in the mirror and make sure none are crawling on me. Bvfvfvfaaahhhh! That is a creepy feeling.

Meh / PFFT Moments:
All Kia’s scenes starting with her cussing at whoever is in the scene or on her mind, especially Carlos.

Wisdom:
I didn’t appreciate Carlos disintegrating on the emotion tsunami rollercoaster about mid book. But, Kia and Reza hit him with the wisdom of the why. And it made sense. Very well done.
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Last Page Sound:
That. That right there is how you end a book that is part of a series. Well done.

Author Assessment:
I will read more stuff by Daniel Jose Older.

Editorial Assessment:
Overused phrase in this review, but well done.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
instant classic
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