Anyway, I didn't connect with the characters and I didn't care for their dilemma. I felt like I was watching the story but I was never involved or drawn in. I didn't like Maite, the main character. There was so much bloodshed in her country and all she cared about was not being a 30 year-old spinster and finding her true love but no one was ever good enough to meet her standards. I felt bored more than interested which is a shame. As Maite and Elvis come closer to discovering the truth behind Leonora's disappearance, they can no longer escape the dangers threatening to consume their lives, with hitmen, government agents and Russian spies all aiming to find or protect Leonora's secrets - at gunpoint. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine/Del Rey and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own. Silvia Moreno-Garcia presents a well-crafted storyline based on true events in Mexico City. The 1970's brought student unrest as activists took to the streets. The government, in turn, sent goons to stop any uprisings and the result was chaos and bloodshed. Read the Afterword at the end by this author to get a clearer picture of what actually took place.

She's not a likeable character, to be honest. But I didn't care— she was interesting. And interesting people are fun to follow within a story. Why I enjoyed this book: Maite and Elvis were characters that I found it difficult to look away from. I won't say I liked them, per se, but they were memorable. If anything, this book most closely resembles Certain Dark Things to me because Maite and Elvis feel very similar to Atl and Domingo. Velvet was the Night is an explosive combination of such classic ’70s thrillers as Three Days of the Condor and contemporary Mexican noir like Yuri Herrera’s celebrated Signs Preceding the End of the World. An enforcer and a secretary search for a missing student in this explosive noir novel set in 1971 Mexico. A finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Selected for CBC Canada Reads longlist, one of the best books of the year according to The New York Times Book Review.Finally, the title was expertly chosen and I loved the references to the song 'Strangers in the Night' that both of the characters listen to as well as "Blue Velvet', and by the end, we get a real sense of how well-weaved throughout the novel the title really is - this was expertly done. During the course of his hunt, Elvis begins to notice the quiet, mousey woman living in Leonora's building. There's something about her that he is drawn to.

First of all: this is not paranormal, gothic thrillers just like some of her previous work! This is political thriller-historical fiction- emotional lonely hearts of broken people story! I loved both of the characters. The pacing was still intriguing. I never get bored till the end. That’s why I’m giving my whirlwind, exciting, powerful, fast pacing, four viva Mexico stars!

Follow Us

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Velvet Was the Night will not be for everyone, though. And many of the reasons why I loved it are exactly why some readers won’t. Maite works as a legal secretary in 1970s-Mexico City. But that's just her day job. At night she reads romantic comics and dreams of a different life for herself. The story takes places in 70’s of Mexico, centered on high tension political area because the incidents enacted by PRI Mexican Political party! Elvis is member of Hawks : a group is unofficially works for government during the Dirty War as Maite is clerical worker who hates her job, loves reading romance lovers, listening to records, thirty, single. some of the descriptions were actually pretty great and certainly fitted in with the noir aestheticImmensely satisfying, refreshingly new and gloriously written . . . Moreno-Garcia mashes up Anglocentric genres with midcentury Mexican history, resulting in a brew flavored with love, heartbreak, violence, music and unsettling dread. . . .The gift of this book, and Moreno-Garcia’s storytelling, is how it imbues this well-worn genre with addedstrength, grace and even musicality.” —The New York Times Book Review An absolute flex . . . [ Velvet Was the Night] left memarvelingat what kind of sorceress Moreno-Garcia must be as she reworks genre after genre, weaving in Mexican history and culture, satisfying familiar cravings without resorting to mere pastiche. The most tantalizing suspense of all comes withwondering what she’ll do next.” — Slate Swirling in parallel trajectories, Maite and Elvis attempt to discover the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, encountering hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies. Because Mexico in the 1970s is a noir where life is cheap and the price of truth is high. I loved how this story follows the two main characters Maite and Elvis. I enjoyed seeing how they had separate stories at first but ultimately came together through a connection to Leonora. The dual perspective really strengthens the narrative. It works to explore different perspectives by having an insider and outsider. Readers can see Maite as the outside perspective who is in over her head while Elvis gives the inside perspective into the Hawks and their operation.