Blood of Paradise (Mortalis) [Kindle Edition]

David Corbett (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Corbett's third novel, a moving if somewhat directionless thriller, is as much a political statement as it is crime fiction. Jude McManus, a young American bodyguard assigned to keep watch over a business executive working for an El Salvador bottling plant, is approached by Bill Malvasio, an old Chicago police partner of McManus's late father, who, along with another cop, was fired from the force for corruption. Malvasio, who fled the U.S. for El Salvador during the scandal, wants to hire McManus to return to Chicago and bring back the third member of the trio. McManus accepts the job because Malvasio's reason seems benevolent—there's a job waiting, and the old partner has fallen on hard times. It's a decision McManus soon regrets. Corbett (Done for a Dime) spends an inordinate amount of time explaining the wreck that El Salvador has become since the civil war of the 1980s. While interesting in small doses, the sociopolitics detracts from a meandering plot already lacking in suspense and punch. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Jude McManus is a young American bodyguard for a hydrologist who is investigating the state of aquifers in El Salvador. The son of a crooked, disgraced, and now deceased Chicago cop, Jude is working to maintain his moral compass in a country that seems to lack one of it own. Corruption, privilege, and brutality are the norm, but the sudden appearance of Bill Malvasio, one of his father's old cronies, really sends his compass spinning and puts Jude, and many other people, in danger. Corbett's latest is a curious book. It begins with an epigraph by journalist Peter Maas that compares the current situation in Iraq to El Salvador, and it ends with a dozen-page essay on the disaster of Reagan-era, neocon-inspired foreign policy, which led to nearly a third of the El Salvador population leaving the country. In between, there is a 400-page novel that seems disconnected from neocons or Iraq. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that Corbett simply bit off more than almost any author could chew--but he makes a game attempt, and there is much here to engage the thoughtful reader. Thomas Gaughan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 597 KB
• Print Length: 445 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0812977335
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 6, 2007)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000OI0FQW
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,532 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

David Corbett is the author of three critically acclaimed novels: "The Devil's Redhead," "Done for a Dime" (a New York Times Notable Book), and "Blood of Paradise," which was nominated for numerous awards, including the Edgar, and named both one of the Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers of 2007 by the Washington Post and a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book; it was also selected for the US Southern Command Reading List by Admiral James Stavridis.

His fourth novel, "Do They Know I'm Running?," will be published in March 2010, and has earned the following praise from John Lescroart:

"This is not just a thriller, but an elegant novel, full of heart, soul, music, food, cruelty, betrayal, poverty and love. The line runs through Ernest Hemingway and Graham Greene, straight on to David Corbett. I'm not kidding. He's that good."

David's short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies, including "San Francisco Noir" and "Phoenix Noir," and his story "Pretty Little Parasite" (from "Las Vegas Noir") was selected for inclusion in "Best American Mystery Stories 2009."

David has also contributed a chapter to the world's first serial audio thriller, "The Chopin Manuscript"--which won an Audie Award for Best Audio Book of 2008--and also to its follow-up, "The Copper Bracelet."

For more, go to www.davidcorbett.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Crime Fiction, May 9, 2007

By 

Kirk Russell (Berkeley) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood of Paradise: A Novel (Mortalis) (Paperback)

As I got into Blood of Paradise I thought this is a great story Corbett has got going here, but it's going to be tough to hold it together because he takes on so much. But he pulled it off and it's a great read. What starts with the mystery of desire and attraction quickly descends into a world of moral ambiguity and one where both personal code and the politics of El Salvador and of America are called into question. But not in a way that runs the story aground. I kept going back to this novel every night.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Simply Terrific Crime Thriller, March 12, 2007

By 

Ronald Carver (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood of Paradise: A Novel (Mortalis) (Paperback)

Corbett sets his novel in present day El Salvador. The crimes are committed by the hired guns of an oligarchy hoping to silence the brave souls who expose the rape of that nation's economic and environmental resources. There is plenty of human drama, betrayal and brutality. Corbett makes a powerful tale all the more shocking by weaving in the real-life story of the recent assassination of Jose Gilberto Soto, an American citizen and Teamster leader who returned to his native country in an effort to link up with union leaders there. Just weeks after Soto's murder, I traveled to San Salvador along with a group of religious and human rights leaders in a futile attempt to prod Salvadoran officials to find his assassins. I can attest that Corbett captures the frustration, the repression and terror that confronts those who battle for justice and oppose a brutally corrupt regime propped up by our own government.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Super political thriller, April 6, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood of Paradise: A Novel (Mortalis) (Paperback)

Jude McMannus works in El Salvador as an executive protection specialist assigned to work with an American hydrologist. He moved from Chicago, haunted by his distant past. As a teenager, he watched his family fall apart after his father, who was a Chicago cop, was arrested in a huge corruption scandal. The result of the arrest was his parents' divorce and his father's death under very suspicious circumstances. Shortly after that, Jude decided to join the army and start a new life.

However, the past did not want to be forgotten that easily and one of his father's old cop friends appears in El Salvador. Bill Malvaiso had fled Chicago to avoid being arrested. He contacted Jude to ask a favor. Since he is unable to go back to the U.S. he needs Jude's help. He asks him to go back to Chicago and bring Jude's dad's and Bill's mutual friend, Strock, to El Salvador. Jude agrees to help; however he is full of uncertainty. Soon he finds himself involved in a big corruption plot where he must put his life at risk to protect values that he strongly believes in.

Blood of Paradise is a skillfully written and very detailed political thriller. It gives the reader a wide range of characters that all have a crucial role in the plot. The book has many layers. In addition to the political background, it also has a romantic thread which makes it a little bit less dark and pessimistic. The picture of El Salvador during the times of turmoil and extreme chaos, where corruption rules and citizens face starvation, prostitution and everyday death, is very realistic and extremely detailed. It's not hard to put yourself in the characters' shoes and find yourself faced with crucial decisions.

I would recommend the novel to all readers who like darker and more complicated books. Blood of Paradise is definitely not a book one reads to relax after a hard day of work.

Armchair Interviews says: Readers who like heavier reading will undoubtedly enjoy Blood of Paradise.