Customer Reviews

Breaking Lorca

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've loved Blunt's police procedurals - as a writer, i absolutely support leaving a series and writing in a new direction and when recently in Ottawa bought a hardcover version of this book at first sight. That given, Breaking Lorca - despite Blunt's obvious skills as a writer - is a sickening story of the rape and torture of a woman prisoner (why do bad men in fiction, especially serial killers, usually do this to women? is this a male fantasy project?); i'm not faint of heart (i work with law enforcement personnel), but the graphic details of "Lorca" that drone on and on become loathsome; i've no compelling identification with any of the characters and scarcely believe the ending.

After having recently read Blunt's less than impressive, "No Such Creature", I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I was curious if he could bring back some of the magic from his Cardinal series. In a word, the answer is "yes". This is probably one of the most difficult books I've ever read, and I must give Blunt credit as an author for making the torture scenes so believable and gut-wrenching. Overall a wonderful book, that you won't easily forget if you can get through the first half. If I was in charge of El Salvadoran tourism I wouldn't like this book nearly as much :)

Giles Blunt is one of my favourite Canadian authors. I'm a big fan of the John Cardinal mysteries and loved his last stand alone novel No Such Creature. Breaking Lorca is a complete departure from earlier works.

Victor, a bookish, reluctant soldier in El Salvador is 'rescued' from death by firing squad by his uncle. His uncle, Captain Pena, is a specialist in the army - an interrogation expert. He means to school Victor in his trade. He is an expert in torture. When a suspected female rebel, Lorca, is imprisoned, Pena decides that she should be Victor's learning ground. Victor is not by nature a violent, evil man. In fact he describes himself as a coward. What will someone do to keep themself alive?

This is not an easy read. Descriptions and dialogue are absolutely horrific and brutal. I did have to read it in small doses. What kept me going? My faith in Giles Blunt as an author. The second part of the novel moves to America, where Victor seeks redemption from his past. But can the past ever be escaped?

What possessed Blunt to write such a novel? He was inspired by Canadian author and activist Margaret Atwood's poem "Footnote to the Amnesty Report on Torture", which imagines "a fearful man paid to clean up the torture chamber."

A compelling, thought provoking narrative of what is most likely happening somewhere in the world at this moment. I was glad I chose to read til the last page.

I read this book only because I trusted the author. Giles Blunt has written an excellent police procedural series featuring a sympathetic and appealing police officer. Because of Blunt's insight into human nature, I wanted to see how he would do with a topic as difficult as the one in Breaking Lorca: Torture (of a political prisoner) from the viewpoint of the torturer.

I won't give much away; the energy that will carry the reader forward -- if the reader has the ability to survive the scenes -- will be the need to know what happens next.

Three characters are established from the start: The narrator, who does his job because he is afraid of what will happen to him if he doesn't. He is the model of someone who is doing his job "only because it is what I was ordered to." Like many people who have inflicted harm on others and then feels the need to be able to look at himself in the mirror, he projects his own dislike onto the victim -- justifying his cruelty with the idea that somehow the victim deserves, if for no other reason, then for the victim's own vulnerability: "I am hurting you and you can't stop me, therefore you must deserve it."

There is the narrator's superior, the one who is truly a sadist, who has crossed over from hurting people because it is necessary and justified to hurting people because it gives him pleasure. He can gain satisfaction not just from creating pain himself, but from leading others to do so for him. In this case, he senses the weakness of the narrator, and wishes to break him completely, in a sense to enlist the narrator to the self-righteousness of the superior himself.

And finally there is Lorca. She alone among the many victims in the political prison has made herself stand out to the narrator. Her own, futile fight against being broken snags the narrator's final vestiges of conscience.

After that we watch in fascination as the various elements play out.

The ending is unexpected, yet absolutely consistent and revelatory. It is also satisfying and might even make you want to re-read all that has led up to it. Like the final piece in a jigsaw puzzle, it bring an illumination and completion to the story that transcends the pieces themselves.

Be warned! This is a difficult book. It is like the darkest of Graham Greene novels (for example, The Man Within). You will not know until the last moment, practically, if you should invest your empathy in the narrator or not. Caring for Lorca seems too emotionally dangerous. So, without a character to invest in, the reader must allow him/herself to be carried forward simply by the urgency of the story and the need to know what happens next. Eventually, you will take the risk of deciding who will matter to you; and for this you will be rewarded.

This story is a taunting and disturbing account of how far people in a position of authority will go in order to obtain what they want and remain in power. Through a compelling and provoking narrative the readers are taken on a harrowing journey where there is no mercy. This vivid and emotionally charged account relates how countrymen are subjected to physical, mental and emotional destruction in order to keep them submissive.

Giles Blunt is known for his "John Cardinal" series but this suspenseful tale is a standalone novel. The first part immerses the reader into a troubled time in the early 80's when El Salvador was in a vicious civil war and the average citizen's life meant nothing to those in power. The second part focuses on two of the citizens who made it to the U.S...

The protagonist is Victor Pena, a former officer, rescued form a firing squad to be a key player in a secret unit dedicated to acquiring intelligence. Victor finds himself out of his depth in this unit, violence and savagery are not part of his makeup, but right now it is his only option to stay alive. Victor soon finds himself up against a mysterious female detainee named Lorca who he cannot help but admire; he finds her strength and determination under prolonged torture to be impressive.

In the last part of the novel, Victor is sent to Fort Bening in the U.S. to hone his training. Once there, he sees an opportunity to escape the position he is in and find freedom. Driven by his conscience, his aim is to locate Lorca who has miraculously survived and is believed to be hiding in New York. He is constantly haunted by past memories and feels he could lessen the pain by redeeming himself in her eyes...

Mr. Blunt's background in TV is evident, the writing is very crisp, the characters are so real and the dialogue creates a virtual picture, the graphic details of torture are horrific and gut wrenching. It is hard to believe people can contemplate doing this to others and carry on life as if nothing happened. This dark novel is not for everyone, it brings to life what is believed to have transpired during a time of political turmoil in El Salvador. Although the ending left me a little disappointed, it had a bit too much flash and bang for a novel, it seems the concluding chapter was meant more for the big screen, nevertheless I enjoyed every page

There comes a time in every writer's life when he or she must ask: has my work become stagnant? Am I churning out more of the same, or are my ideas still fresh?

It's a tough question -- especially for successful writers. After all, who wants to mess with a good thing? When all the feedback is positive, and the fan base is loyal, like it was for Canadian author Giles Blunt with his "Cardinal" mystery series, why would anyone want to strike out on a new path?

Readers resent change in the same way that families do. Every mother has, at some time in her life, wanted to change some personal habit, only to find that her mate or children were very uncomfortable with any tilt to the status quo.

So it is with writers. However, there are many ways to measure "success". It is not merely a factor of readership, or of accolades. Success can also describe the artist's ambition to stretch, to reach new territory, to become more than the sum of his "known" parts.

With his latest novel, "Breaking Lorca", Giles Blunt has become an inspiration to many writers. He may have ruffled a few loyal Cardinal fans, (in fact, I'm quite sure he did) but by blazing for himself this new trail he has proven himself to be worthy of a standing in the halls of Canadian Liturature.

By the way, I should point out that, like many Canuks, I shudder at the stuffy, over-touted phrase "CANLIT". It carries with it a pretentious air of exclusivity that hinders rather than fosters our true National Artistic Identity.

Having said that, there is an undeniable standard that we Canadians strive for, and Blunt has entered into the realm of greatness with his latest two works: "Breaking Lorca", and before that the wickedly humourous "No Such Creature".

I am proud to have met Blunt, albeit briefly, on several occasions, and to have heard him read. Without a doubt, his recent artistic "mutations" have been the result of much effort, and they have earned him an undeniable place in those haughty yet sacred annals.

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