Randy reviews his second Silvia Moreno-Garcia novel this month. What did he think of it?
Collecting garbage sharpens the senses. It allows us to notice what others do not see. Where most people would spy a pile of junk, the rag-and-bone man sees treasure; empty bottles that might be dragged to the recycling center, computer innards that can be reused, furniture in decent shape. The garbage collector is alert. After all, this is a profession.
From chapter 1
Mexico City has outlawed vampires within its confines. Vampires are not necessarily compliant, but they are wary of the laws’ enforcement.
Atl, second daughter of a family of drug dealing Tlahuihpochtli vampires, has escaped from a family of Necros vampires, the Godoy’s, who invaded and took over her family’s territory after killing her mother and older sister, the leaders of that matriarchal clan. While most vampires are Old World, abiding by traditions and structures that proved useful in the past, the Necros are New World and disdain tradition and anything obstructing their appetite for blood or money.
Now Atl hides in Mexico City, evading authorities, looking to escape to the south, out of the reach of the Godoy’s. The head of the Godoy family wants her dead. His son, Nick, has personal reasons for wanting to find Atl and Nick is in Mexico City searching for her.
Domingo, 17, lives on the streets. He sifts through the city’s garbage, sorting out those items on which he can turn a profit. Seeing Atl he is struck by her beauty, and amazed when she notices him. Even when she reveals herself as a vampire, he is not afraid. She doesn’t understand her own reasoning for not making a meal of Domingo and in time comes to value his loyalty and his knowledge of the city.
Moreno-Garcia has admitted to a love of film noir and here she applies the form to a world with vampires. Her Mexico City conforms to the noir construct of a city encompassing shady dealings and corrupt officials, dark alleys and backstreets, grand old neighborhoods gone to seed, and formerly posh homes housing black market transactions – or vampires, or both. Her vampires travel best in the dark and in the tradition of noir, rainstorms add atmosphere. Also in the tradition of noir, moments of violence are sharp and brief, though with vampires the violence may come with extensive damage to human and vampire alike. But between those moments are covert meetings, negotiations and wheedling, transactions in which Atl, on the run, maneuvers for leverage to apply to those who can help her survive. Like Ilsa and Victor Lazlo in Casablanca, she needs contacts and the papers that allow her safe passage once out of Mexico City.
This could have been a horror novel, and it certainly has aspects of just that – Nick, in particular, is vicious. But Moreno-Garcia’s approach veers toward vampire fantasy novel, enumerating the various clans of vampires and their characteristics – the Nightfire edition includes an “Encyclopaedia Vampirica” which I would advise reading first for its descriptions of the clans and their particular strengths and weaknesses – and giving us a glimpse into how a world with vampire clans and humans operates. The plot nods to noir thrillers of the past and incorporates a plausible coming-of-age story for both protagonists. Atl, twenty-three, is still considered a child by the long-lived standards of vampires and is forced to learn how to survive without her family’s protection. Domingo, accustomed to being among the lowest caste in Mexico City, is fascinated by vampires, and needs to be disabused of what he’s learned from a few movies and a stash of comic books, even as his knowledge of Mexico City guides Atl. As their relationship develops and their path to freedom seems to narrow, this thriller generates great suspense. Anyone who enjoyed Mexican Gothic is likely to also enjoy Certain Dark Things.
CERTAIN DARK THINGS by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2022; NightFire)
