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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
When truth is more frightening than fiction, December 19, 2009
"Leighton Gage's first book, BLOOD OF THE WICKED, starts with the assassination of a Catholic bishop; from the first pages it is a book that can't be put down. Gage's second book, BURIED STRANGERS, begins with a dog and a bone and secret cemeteries. It, too, is a book the reader will not want to put down.
"Chief Inspector Mario Silva and his team are investigators for the federal police in Brazil. Although based in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, most of the action takes place in Sao Paulo. As with BLOOD OF THE WICKED, the author creates an atmosphere and sense of place by the descriptions of the unimaginable poverty of a favela, the neighborhoods of the destitute, and the lavish, protected mansions of those who need not answer for the source of their affluence.
"More cemeteries are found, with rows and rows of graves, and DNA proves that families are buried together. These are not the graves of the 'disappeared,' those critics of the government who vanished without a trace. These are more recent, and in such great numbers, that Silva and his team know that these people are victims of greed and a lack of humanity beyond the worst instincts of the majority of mankind.
"The author builds the story on some of the greatest accomplishments of science and the inevitable perversion of the talents of those who can best improve the lives of some of society's most desperate people. That the author does not keep the reader in the dark throughout the novel only makes the end more satisfying.
"Chief Inspector Silva is a worthy member of the club that includes Garcia-Roza's Espinosa, Mankell's Wallender, Grimes' Jury, Wilson's Falcon, Vargus' Adamsburg, and Rankin's Rebus.
"I look forward to the next book in this series.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't wait for the 3rd Mario Silva book, April 14, 2009
This review is from: Buried Strangers: A Chief Inspector Mario Silva Investigation (Hardcover)
Just finished BURIED STRANGERS and loved it. Great plot, I love the characters and I really couldn't put it down. Great police procedural. Leighton Gage is the real thing, he's up there with my other favorite authors, Henning Mankell and Per Wahloo and Sojwall. If you like Wallander and Martin Beck you will definitely enjoy Mario Silva. I liked Gage's first Mario Silva, BLOOD OF THE WICKED, I don't think it matters which one you read first. I'm sorry I have to wait until Jan 2010 for Gage's third book in the series and wish he'd started writing sooner, I'd be reading another one now.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"People die and disappear all the time.", February 16, 2009
This review is from: Buried Strangers: A Chief Inspector Mario Silva Investigation (Hardcover)
In Leighton Gage's "Buried Strangers," thirty-seven unclothed corpses are found in a rain forest outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The homicide victims, including thirteen adults and twenty-four children, were unceremoniously dumped in unmarked graves. Who would commit such an atrocity and why? Nelson Sampaio, the director of the Brazilian Federal Police, based in Brasilia, is not all that interested in solving this horrific crime that probably took place three to seven years earlier. However, Mario Silva, Chief Inspector for Criminal Matters, sidesteps his boss. Assisted by his nephew, Delegado Hector Costa, and Agente Arnaldo Nunes, Silva is determined to do everything in his power to apprehend the killer.
"Buried Strangers" is an engrossing police procedural that benefits from its exotic locale. For those unfamiliar with Brazil, this book provides a quick education about the huge chasm between the country's rich and poor citizens, the rampant police corruption, and the high crime rate that is fueled by drugs, gangs, and prostitution. The mystery of the hidden cemetery will test the tenacity of the investigators, who must pursue numerous leads before finally stumbling upon the astonishing reason for the terrible slaughter.
Gage's characters includes Dr. Gilda Caropreso, a lovely and sharp pathologist who catches Hector's eye, Ernesto and Clarice Portella, a bickering and bitter couple who live in a "favela" (shantytown) and resent being hounded by the police, and Delegado Titular Yoshira Tanaka, a henpecked husband whose shrewish wife makes his life miserable. Silva and his colleagues enjoy teasing one another, but they are deadly serious about their jobs. Unfortunately, the villains are stereotypes ranging from an incompetent buffoon to a remorseless fiend, and the plot is marred by some gaping holes and far-fetched coincidences. The book's conclusion is particularly contrived and cliché-ridden. Still, "Buried Strangers" draws the reader in, mostly because the author captures the atmosphere and culture of Brazil so successfully. In some ways, the country is the most interesting part of the story.
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