Rag and Bone [Hardcover]

Michael Nava (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2001

From one of the most highly praised writers in mystery fiction, a swan song for a flawed hero.

In six novels, Michael Nava's stories featuring gay Mexican-American lawyer Henry Rios have resonated across a wide spectrum of readers, but his seventh, and final, Rios novel is the most haunting one of all."Counsel, your time has expired," the presiding justice said. He was very nearly right. For fifty-seven seconds, I died.

Recuperating from a heart attack, Rios learns with astonishment that his estranged sister had had an illegitimate daughter when she was young, and that the girl is grown now, with a son of her own and an abusive husband. When the man is shot dead, and the bruised wife confesses, Rios immediately assumes the battered wife acted in self-defense, but gradually small discrepancies emerge, and before long Rios finds himself on the path to a much darker, more complex truth . . . a truth that will lead him to some life-altering events of his own.

Filled with memorable characters and exquisite writing, Rag and Bone is further proof that "if you haven't discovered Nava yet, an uncommonly rich experience awaits" (Kirkus Reviews).

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The good news is that Henry Rios, the hero of several of Michael Nava's earlier thrillers (The Death of Friends, The Burning Plain) is back. The bad news, spelled out in the acknowledgments, is that "this book brings to an end this series of mysteries and my career as a mystery writer." If this is your first exposure to the author or his hero, you'll be as sorry to read the end note as Nava's justly deserved fan club.

Rios, a gay Hispanic lawyer, has been described as an "outsider" hero, dedicated to finding justice in a world where it seems to be a highly perishable commodity. His keen intelligence is matched by his vulnerability, in this case to the emotional demands placed on him by a sudden heart attack that leaves him wondering whether life is still worth living, and the news that his sister, a former nun, once had a daughter, who has been found and then lost again. Tracing Vicky and her 10-year-old son Angel isn't that difficult for Henry. An abused woman hiding from a violent ex-husband doesn't have that many ways to disappear. But there's something about Vicky that doesn't fit the abuse profile, and when she's charged with killing Angel's father, Henry is torn between his desire to free her and his sense that there's more to the story than she's telling him. There is, of course, but it's the multidimensionality of his central characters rather than the mysteries they're caught up in that drive Nava's perceptive, brilliantly explicated novels. Love in its many guises drives this one--love between Henry and John, the first man to touch Rios's heart in many years, and love for Angel, the nephew in whom he sees a chance to redeem his own unhappy childhood. Nava leaves his series hero in their good hands, with a new career as a judge ahead of him. And he leaves his devoted readers hoping he'll change his mind and bring Henry back again, perhaps this time from the bench instead of the bar. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

This seventh Henry Rios mystery should bring both pleasure and sadness to admirers of the gay Mexican-American defense lawyer. Pleasure because Nava is in top form; sadness because of his announcement that this is the last Rios novel. His fans may also be perplexed by the lack of explanation for halting the series. The challenges L.A.-based Rios confronts are as complex and involved as the man himself: a heart attack, a possible appointment to a judgeship, the discovery of an unknown niece and grandnephew, a new love and the most personally daunting defense case of his career. The smoothly integrated plot strands conspire to test and push Rios into reassessing everything, from the new love and the commitment it both promises and demands, to the news that his estranged sister, Elena, had had a daughter, now grown and with a son of her own. And Elena's daughter, Vicky Trujillo, and her boy, Angel, come with serious baggage. Vicky's a battered woman with a record, while Angel, who reminds Rios of himself as a child, already bears signs of a hard childhood. When Vicky shoots her drug-using husband, it appears a simple case of self-defense. But the truth is more complex, and Rios must learn a great deal about himself and his new relatives to find it. Rios's humanity and decency shine through this satisfying novel and leave the reader hoping that the author's pronouncement of finis might be wrong. (Mar. 19)Forecast: As the James Bond title goes, "Never Say Never Again," but Nava's announcement that this novel closes this popular series should spur sales not only of this book but of the previous six Henry Rios titles.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1ST edition (March 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039914708X
• ISBN-13: 978-0399147081
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #576,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fitting finale to a great series, February 15, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rag and Bone (Hardcover)

Gay attorney Henry Rio is working a case at the California Court of Appeals when he suffers a massive heart attack. Though not close, Henry asks for his sister Elena. She visits him in the hospital and tries to mend their breech even informing him that as a teen she gave up the child she birthed for adoption. Henry acts indifferent towards his niece Vicky because he feels that he has nothing left to live for and death seems welcoming.

That nothingness changes when Henry meets John De Leon. They become friends and potentially a deeper relationship seems imminent. Another friend encourages Henry to apply for a judgeship that is vacant. Vicky and her son Angel reenter Henry's life when she is arrested for the murder of her husband. The lad moves in with his great-uncle. Vicky pleads battered spouse syndrome, but Henry believes there is more to this situation than that. He begins investigating the case, but needs to gain Vicky's trust if he is to uncover the truth.

In a postscript Michael Nava informs the reader that this is not only his last Rios novel, but his final mystery. What a way to end a sparkling career with a fabulous tale. The characters make the tale, as they seem so genuine. For instance, a depressed Henry seeks a place in the world while Vicky's story comes from headlines. RAG AND BONE is a fitting end to a great series starring a very humanistic but flawed individual. Kudos to the author for a supernava finale.

Harriet Klausner

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Grand Finale & Wonderful Ending!, May 1, 2001

By 

Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rag and Bone (Hardcover)

I have to admit this is only the second Henry Rios mystery I have read. I read the first one many years ago, collected all the others, but have failed to get to them. Shame on me! After reading this wonderful ending to the Henry Rios series, I know now that I will definitely read all his other books ASAP. This was a wonderful story with real characters, and it was a real page turner. These characters are real people, who make up a true & caring family, and it doesn't matter whether they happen to be gay or straight. This book had true passion, something for everyone and plenty of love in many different guises.

While Rios is recuperating from a heart attack, he learns that his sister had an illegitimate daughter many years ago, who now has a son of her own and she has come to find her mother for help so she can escape from an abusive husband. Her husband is found shot dead and now it's Rios turn to fight for Vicky's innocence. In the meantime his sister, Elena; Vicky's son, Angelito, and Rios new found love John, slowly become a very close and unexpected family. Proving Vicky's innocence,however, takes on a much darker, and unexpected turn, and causes Rios to even alter some events of his own life. Right up to almost the last chapter you're left wondering how everything will turn out.

Michael Nava has ended the Henry Rios novels with another great mystery. It's with sorrow that he has decided to end the series, but it's with a great appreciation that I myself say Thank You to this fine and talented writer. Bravo!!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taking chances on youth, family, love, right, and justice, November 2, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rag and Bone (Hardcover)

"Rag and Bone" brings to an end this popular series of seven mysteries by San Francisco lawyer/writer Michael Nava. Five of the preceding books have won Lambda awards for best gay mystery of the year. Nava's final Henry Rios novel is a likely contender for this year's best mystery. Fans will look forward to new works by Nava, co-author of "Created Equal: Why Gay Rights Matter in America." Admirers of his fiction hope his decision to end the Henry Rios series will free him from the constraints he might have felt in genre writing and will inspire him to deliver the big novel of psychological realism that we believe him fully capable of writing.

In "Rag and Bone" we see Henry at his most reflective. A heart attack during court in the first chapter makes him face his own mortality, and the continuing grief over the AIDS death of Josh, his young lover introduced in the series' second novel, "Golden Boy," causes Henry-always a sensitive character-to turn more philosophical. But the turning inward does not mean withdrawal.

In this novel Henry discovers whole new dimensions of family as he draws closer to an estranged sister whose long-lost daughter and grandson are caught in a gang homicide case. Henry must defend his niece, whom he dislikes and who is the confessed killer. In his late forties, Henry must not only heal a diseased heart, he must also mend a broken one that never healed from his father's abuse. When he becomes responsible for his ten year old nephew, the image of himself at ten, Henry's independence yields to surrogate fatherhood.

Family takes on additional dimensions as Henry finds himself falling in love with John, a washed up minor leaguer now a contractor in Rios' neighborhood. From their first meeting when John helps Henry home from an overly-ambitious walk, the men are attracted to each other. Both are Mexican American; both are in their forties; both love baseball; and, most importantly, both are disarmingly honest about themselves. John, a divorced bisexual, misses his own children and is only too eager to help "father" young Angel. But John has asked Deanna to marry him, and it is unclear just where the new romance with Henry is going.

Most of the novel concerns the murder case, but the crime, family, and love are intricately entwined. Typical to the genre, things work out as they should, and Henry's career takes a leap: the governor will name him to a judgeship. Enjoy this novel for its surprise twists and turns of plot and its sleuth-like intelligence at mystery solving. But most of all, enjoy it for the character of its characters-the hard decisions, the earnest decency of wounded men and women willing to risk themselves again for youth, for family, for love, for right and justice.