This book is like the mainstream version of Roberto Bolaño's 2666. It shares oddly similar plot points, including the mass murder of women (in this one schoolgirls are being murdered instead of the women in 2666), a mysterious German writer, a black pick-up truck, brutal policemen, corrupt politicians, etc. But it doesn't share Bolaño's scope and it neatly answers most of the questions it sets up. It's fun to read but it won't change your life. ( )

From: Mexican Detective Cabrera Listens to Cumbia
http://wp.me/p14mpp-at

Justice is fickle in this fictional Mexican city on the East coast of Mexico in the state of Tamaulipas just south of the US-Mexico border. The Black Minutes by Martín Solares is a violent story of the search for a serial murderer in a fictional world of police brutality, corruption and government ineptitude. There are some comic scenes and there are moving and tranquil moments that lighten the reading, but the overall impact is one of grim reality.

Solares, in his first novel has provided some new insight into the violent history of the Mexican states along the US-Mexican border. But, if you read the novel, be prepared for a sometimes-frightening story in which there are no winners. This is fiction noir at its best.

The Black Minutes (Los Minutos Negros), Martín Solares (2006).
Carto
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