Eva De Dominici as journalist Verónica Rosenthal alongside Germán Palacios, who plays Lucio Valrossa, a key character in the unfolding thriller.
Wow! After reading Sergio Olguín's The Fragility of Bodies, the first in a series of four novels featuring journalist Verónica Rosenthal, I can clearly see why this absorbing novel, published in 2012, became a bestseller in Argentina and was quickly adapted into a hit TV series aired throughout all of Latin America.
The Fragility of Bodies is a breathtaking tour de force of crime noir, written by an author at the height of his literary powers. Intense, impassioned, fiery, and fierce are all fitting descriptions of this nearly 400-page urban saga that will grip readers, beginning with the suicide of a train driver who shoots himself in the temple and plunges from the roof of the multistory building where he's been seeing his psychologist twice a week for the past three months.
Why would Alfredo Carranza, a dedicated train driver with a loving wife and two beautiful little children, commit such an act? Actually, Alfredo left a suicide note which began: Nobody but me is to blame for this. I can't go on any more. I killed them. All four of them. I thought that I could live with this. I thought that I could live with the deaths of the first three. But not with the child's.
Forever the savvy investigative journalist, Verónica Rosenthal reads the suicide note, senses a lurid story, and starts hunting around for answers. What she discovers quickly leads to boys from the Buenos Aires slums playing a ghastly game of chicken where they stand on the tracks in front of onrushing trains - a game of life and death organized by sleazy adults for their own profit and entertainment.
We follow Verónica on her quest through the grime and grit of the city's lower social strata to not only compile facts for her story but also nail those irresponsible adults subjecting young boys to such extreme child abuse. Additionally, Sergio Olguín will shift the focus to other men and women in the unfolding drama, sometimes even cycling back to capture the same scene from a different character's point of view, building a hair-raising, heart-stopping narrative momentum that will keep any reader riveted to the page.
Oh, what a novel, with a host of memorable characters, including:
Verónica, Journalist – Our thirty-year-old protagonist displays unrelenting toughness and zeal in her quest to uncover the truth, a woman with keen journalistic instincts that frequently place her in danger. “She needed a double Jack Daniel's and two packets of cigarettes to help her think. She didn't believe she could have a decent idea before she finished the first pack.” Verónica knows drinking and smoking aren't exactly good for her health, but if liquor and tobacco fuel her drive to do what must be done, she'll gladly indulge.
Verónica, Single and Independent – Let this serve as a red flag for any reader who is prudish: the sexually attractive Verónica, forever allergic to even the idea of marriage, possesses a huge sexual appetite and doesn’t hold back from engaging in all varieties of kinky sex with a number of men. Verónica is also a bit of a romantic, which adds more than a touch of complexity to her relationships.
Lucio – Sarmiento Railway Company train driver Lucio can't get the faces of the people he ran over out of his mind. He could transfer to another job within the company, but that would mean less pay - something unacceptable for a dedicated family man with a wife and two boys. However, Lucio is in for a radical life transformation when he meets and becomes infatuated with none other than Verónica.
El Peque and Dientes – With these two boys, the grinding, oppressive poverty of Buenos Aires' poor is exposed in all its pain and degradation. Like many other young slum-dwellers, they see soccer as their passport to a better life. Little do they realize that their soccer coach is a vicious sleazeball who recruits vulnerable boys for a deadly game with trains. He's a link in a criminal underworld, luring the boys in with the promise of one hundred pesos - an amount of money they've never seen in their lives.
Balthazar Murillo plays the part of Peque
Frederico – Aarón Rosenthal, Verónica's father, is one of the most influential lawyers in Buenos Aires. Aarón dreamed of having a son who would carry on the family tradition of lawyers, but, alas, he had three daughters (Verónica being the youngest), none of whom expressed any interest in pursuing a career in law. Aarón hired Frederico, a sharp and dedicated lawyer who soon, thanks largely to Aarón, earned a junior partnership. For Aarón, Frederico is the son he never had; indeed, it has always been Aarón's dream that Verónica marry Frederico. Verónica, being Verónica, flatly refused; however, there was that time when they engaged in a few rounds of sex with a hint of the incestuous. Verónica now needs Frederico's help with her investigation, and the young lawyer is always happy to assist, knowing that a future with the alluring Verónica isn't entirely out of the question.
Rafael – With this former alcoholic and drug addict, Sergio Olguín has created a truly unique character. "Rafael knew that one of his virtues - which, like all his virtues, was not often recognized by other people - was observation. He realized a lot of things simply by looking around him. He saw things to which others - so sure of themselves - remained blind." Rafael works at a small food and drink joint next to the soccer field where El Peque and Dientes have been playing. He begins to notice things that strike him as odd. His suspicions are confirmed when he’s offered a chance to make some extra money. Little did he know the depth of what he was getting into. Not long after, he contacts Verónica, and things really start to flare up.
Buenos Aires - This Argentine city is given such a tangible and visceral presence, it's as if it is one of the characters. And similar to the novels of Rio de Janeiro author Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza, the streets and avenues are always named. While readings, I felt as if I was right there with Verónica and everyone else in Buenos Aires, walking the streets, riding in cars, frequenting restaurants, and climbing the stairs of ramshackle apartment buildings. Hats off, Sergio Olguín. You are one talented author.
The Fragility of Bodies will be shelved with other thriller novels, but it is much more: a searing examination of the plight of the very poor in a Latin American city like Buenos Aires. Without question, Sergio Olguín's novel could be used as a supplemental text in a college course in urban sociology, a major achievement deserving a wide audience.
Argentine author Sergio Olguín, born 1967
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