Customer Reviews

King of the Chicanos

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

 

 

I like foreign police procedurals and noir. I have read the entire Manuel Ramos series and I think it is very good. From my point of view he is a pretty obscure author who I found at Gotham Book Mart before they closed up, and I have never seen this series on the shelves of B&N or Borders or other independents; mostly these "unknown" authors turn out to be a bit disappointing but this series turned out to be very entertaining and "authentic". I put these in the class of Leonardo Padura (Havana series) and Paco Taibo II (Belascoaran Shayne).

I really enjoyed reading this novel. The author vividly describes the era and the social culture of the 40's through the 70's for Latinos who identify with the name Chicano. It isn't an academic book, but a story that is well versed in the era of civil rights for Chicanos and one of it's leaders(fictionalized). You don't have to be Chicano to identify with the story of personal struggle, poverty, racism, politics, ego, or betrayals. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 is because it's a little too narrative for me and sometimes there was too much 'reader feeder.' That might be because the author wrote it a few years ago. But it is an interesting and well written story.

I'm ordering the other books he's written and can't wait to read them both.