Untamed Shore

December 9, 2019
Fantasy author Moreno-Garcia (Gods of Jade and Shadow) ventures into thriller territory with mixed success in this noir set in 1979 Baja California. Life for 18-year-old Viridiana in the “nothing at all” town of Desengaño has been full of dull, senseless duty that she yearns to escape. When wealthy American Ambrose Allerton—an older man who’s renting a house with his trophy wife, Daisy, and her handsome brother, Gregory—offers Viridiana a summer job to be his secretary, she gladly accepts. But her good fortune doesn’t last. After a drunken Ambrose takes a fatal fall down some stairs, suspicion falls on Daisy and Gregory. After agreeing to lie on their behalf, Viridiana becomes a suspect in Ambrose’s murder. Fueled by her thirst for exotic adventure, she begins a highly charged affair with Gregory, but sordid reality soon catches up with her. Moreno-Garcia’s unsparing delineation of a ferocious land compensates in part for Viridiana’s somewhat unconvincing dreams of Hollywood romance. Fans of the author’s fantasy novels may want to take a pass. Agent: Eddie Schneider, JABberwocky Literary.

Starred review from February 1, 2020

Moreno-Garcia's first crime fiction novel (after fantasy title Gods of Jade and Shadow) is set in the small town of Desengaño, Baja California. At 18, resident Viridiana is trapped between an unwanted proposal her mother is urging her to accept and the desire to escape to a bigger, better life beyond. After working as a personal assistant and translator to three wealthy Americans, one of them unexpectedly dies and questions of murder abound. Viridiana suspects the survivors aren't who they claim to be, but helping them could be her way out of Desengaño. Although set in 1979, the town's isolation and classic movie references make this story timeless, and the local shark-fishing industry is an apt metaphor for the complex layers of hunters and hunted. VERDICT This thriller sets a quiet tone before building slowly and evenly, showing how a meek teenager trapped by circumstance grows into a strong woman who takes control of her future, though in the end it might change who she is. For fans of Celeste Ng, Alafair Burke, and Kent Anderson.--George Lichman, Rocky River, OH

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2020
A goldfish grows as big as its bowl, Viridiana has heard, but this young woman has long passed that stage. Her dreary 1970s Baja, California, town is stifling in every way, from the stink of shark carcasses that fishermen discard to the expectation that she marry a boring local boy and work in his mother's boring store. Viridiana has English-language skills, though, and those are her ticket to work for an American family in Baja. The job turns out to be much more dangerous than Viridiana bargained for, but it also allows her to live up to the book's theme: becoming someone other than yourself is freeing, even if the freedom has a terrible price. The descriptions of Baja are uncommonly evocative of gritty reality, with poverty and desperation made plain on the page, as well as the lengths people are willing to go to in order to escape. Moreno-Garcia's Certain Dark Things was an NPR best book of the year in 2016, and this insightful look at criminal life from the viewpoint of a sardonic yet lonely soul seems destined for more plaudits; readers can also look forward to the author's upcoming horror novel, Mexican Gothic, which will be released later this year. Another winner from Polis' new Agora imprint, which is dedicated to publishing diverse voices in crime fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)