Necropolis

Starred review from July 2, 2012
The International Conference on Biography and Memory is being held in Jerusalem, and our nameless hero, "a working writer," is honored to be invited after a hiatus from writing due to illness. When he arrives, he is shocked to find the city torn apart by war: "Facing us was a labyrinth of asymmetrical streets, pockmarked with holes and filled with steaming garbage. The houses, cubes of stone the color of sand, bore the marks of grenades and mortars on their walls." His experience only grows more intense as he sets out to find the truth behind the sudden death of charismatic conference speaker José Maturana. The structure of Gamboa's modern-day literary thriller ushers readers directly into the actionâthe protagonist's point of view is intertwined with Maturana's narrative in the first section, while the second portion comprises three other conference speakers' lectures, each of which is a richly told story in its own right. Finally, the last part of the novel returns to the writer's quest to solve Maturana's mysterious death. The Colombian-born Gamboa's work calls to mind Roberto Bolaño in its masterful suspense, complex literary references, and frank depiction of violence, sex, and drugs, but this novel stands on its own as a masterwork of storytelling.

June 1, 2012

The unnamed narrator of Colombian author Gamboa's first work translated into English, who has recently recovered from a serious illness, readily accepts an invitation to the International Conference on Biography and Memory, to be held in war-torn Israel. The bizarre life stories told by the participants resemble a Tennessee Williams play of endless drunkenness and lust. The star delegate, Jose Maturana, is an evangelist and veteran of Moundsville Penitentiary, where he served time for armed robbery in Florida and West Virginia. In his lecture at the conference, based on his book Miracle at Moundsville, he recounts being saved by a tattooed, handsome Latino messiah. Shortly after his lecture, Maturana is found dead in his hotel room. Another participant, Italian porn star Sabina Vedovelli, and her wealthy husband contract the narrator to write the definitive work on Maturana. In this novel, Gamboa deftly explores different versions of the Maturana story, simultaneously weaving together the stories of the other conference speakers. VERDICT Winner of the 2009 La Otra Orilla literary prize, Gamboa has been justifiably compared to fellow Colombian Gabriel Garcia Marquez for the magic and skill of his storytelling.--Jack Shreve, Allegany Coll. of Maryland, Cumberland

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