Crowded Street in Rio de Janeiro
Hello. My name is Cole Robinhood, host of First Fiction, a blog and YouTube channel dedicated to discussing notable works of contemporary literature. Today, I'm joined by top online book reviewer Glenn Russell, and together we'll be discussing Brazilian author Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza and his literary thriller, Alone in the Crowd.
CR: Welcome, Glenn. Let's dig in. What drew you to Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza?
GR: I love the highly literary, offbeat novels of Rubem Fonseca going back a good number of years. I searched for another Brazilian author whose novels are likewise set in Rio de Janeiro and can be considered crime thrillers. I was pointed toward Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza. What a gift. I enjoyed reading and posting reviews for each of Garcia-Roza's seven Inspector Espinosa novels translated into English.
CR: What makes Garcia-Roza so distinctive?
GR: In addition to being a gifted writer of quality literary works that are also gripping, intricately constructed page-turners, there are two key features worthy of mention. First off, the setting and atmosphere of Rio. From the office buildings, apartments, restaurants, and coffee shops to the beaches, parks, and streets (always cited by name), we can feel the vibrant pulse of this distinctive Brazilian city on every single page. Secondly, his main character: Inspector Espinosa (of course, named after the famous philosopher) is a loner at heart, no ordinary police officer – he's a literary man attuned to beauty, most especially luscious beautiful woman. Unlike all those puritanical crime writers - Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, and Arnaldur Indridason come immediately to mind -each of the seven Garcia-Roza novels are filled with the erotic and sensual.
CR: Fantastic. Let's turn directly to Alone in the Crowd.
GR: Here's how Garcia-Roza frames the novel: an elderly woman by the name of Laureta Sales Ribeiro arrives at the Twelfth Precinct and asks to speak with the chief. However, Chief Inspector Espinosa is in a meeting. Dona Laureta says she'll return in a couple of hours. Soon after she leaves the station, she's found dead, having been run over by a bus at one of the busiest intersections in Rio. Two questions loom: Did someone push her? And why did she want to speak specifically to Espinosa? The police swing into action and quickly discover something worth investigating: prior to her brief visit to the station, Dona Laureta had an extended conversation at her bank with mild-mannered bank teller Hugo Breno.
CR: And Hugo Breno becomes a key?
GR: Oh yes. As we quickly learn, Hugo Breno is a quite unusual type of loner. For one thing, he rarely speaks or associates with people; rather, he most enjoys walking among crowds on the street, to be alone in the crowd (with hints of the Edgar Allan Poe tale). Secondly, Hugo Breno spent his boyhood in the same neighborhood at Espinosa, and, in a number of ways, came to idolize the slightly older Espinosa. And, this is most alarming, Hugo Breno devotes a good amount of time standing at his apartment window spying on Espinosa when the detective is at home in his own apartment.
CR: Now that's weird.
GR: Weird is the word. And when Espinosa reflects on events involving Hugo Breno back when the inspector was age twelve, he recalls a specific tragic event that eventually ties in with the death of Dona Laureta.
CR: I suppose, by way of this connection, things get darker and murkier.
GR: Absolutely. I wouldn't want to say more so as to spoil. Let's shift to a major subplot: Espinosa's ongoing romantic relationship with Irene, which is shaken up when Irene returns from São Paulo with her friend Vânia. Again, I'll avoid spoilers, but what I can say is the inclusion of Vânia provides Garcia-Roza another opportunity to include the sensual and erotic side of life, a dimension, as I noted, that's completely absent in nearly all detective fiction.
CR: Thanks. I know when you write reviews you attempt to avoid spoilers.
GR: I completely agree with Stephen King. Reviewers and publishers tend to go overboard and give too much away. This is especially true when the book is a mystery or a thriller. So, let me take another shift, this time to the way Garcia-Roza handles four prime elements of crime fiction in Alone in the Crowd.
Narrative Momentum – Each scene, each police interview, each clue adds tension, suspense, and intrigue to the unfolding drama that started out with the death of an old lady. And when the connection to other deaths is discovered . . . well, there's ample reasons why Alone in the Crowd is a first-rate thriller.
Foreshadowing – This aspect of the plot is tied in with events occurring thirty years ago. In this way, the Brazilian author displays a highly creative way to include dramatic foreshadowing.
Red Herrings – A major red herring: Hugo Breno's own recounting of events. What he says sounds perfectly reasonable. As readers, how much should we believe? This was an abiding question as I turned the pages.
Satisfying Ending – Alone in the Crowd contains an ending with a wallop, one that's extremely personal for Espinosa, and that's understatement.
CR: Thanks, Glenn. I think what you've shared here will attract a good number of readers to seek out the novel.
GR: I certainly hope so.
Brazilian author Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza, 1936-2020
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