Urgent Matters

A fantastic story of crime and life in Buenos Aires. The novel opens with a train crash. With very little information, we realize that Hugo is on the run and has survived the crash and hopes to flee. We also meet a very dedicated, obsessive detective. Coupled with Hugo's exasperated wife and child and her sister and very strong willed mother, it's a race to see who can find Hugo first.

It's a crazy, quick moving novel and truly entertaining til the final word. The detective provided noir elements. If you like a fast moving noirish thriller, this is a novel for you!
#PushkinPress #Urgent Matters #PaulaRodriguez

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
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An electric Argentinian thriller featuring a deadly train crash, two unidentified bodies, and a missing murder suspect.

The Americans are more astute when it comes to matters like these. They say, “Not guilty”. They don’t say “innocent”. Because as far as innocence goes, no one can make that claim.

A train crashes in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, leaving forty-three fatalities, two of which have not been identified. A prayer card of Saint Expeditus, the patron saint of urgent matters, flutters above the wreckage.

Hugo, a criminal on the run for murder, is on the train. He seizes his chance to sneak out of the wreckage unsuspected, abandoning his possessions – and, he hopes, his identity – among bodies mangled beyond recognition.

As the police descend on the scene, only grizzled Detective Domínguez sees a link between the crash and his murder case. Soon, he’s on Hugo’s tail. But he hasn’t banked on everything from the media to his mother-in-law getting in the way.

The whole mother-in-law aspect of this book made me laugh as (in another life and another detour from librarianship…) I lived and worked in Buenos Aires as a concierge in a very fancy, very expensive hotel and dealt with some of the weirdest requests I think that has ever been made … but that is a whole book in itself. My boss was terrified of his mother-in-law who I thought was the sweetest person on the planet … until I saw her wrath. I get it.
That aside, this was a really good book: well-written, crafted to keep your attention and full of thrilling moments. A wonderful ending makes this a book that I will recommend to patrons without hesitation. #shortbutsweetreviews

A richly layered and deeply affecting novel that packs an emotional punch. The story is told from multiple perspectives, offering readers different insights into the mystery and serving to keep the tension high throughout the narrative.

The characters in the book are portrayed with great care and detail, and are given backstories that make them feel fully-realized and complex. Hugo, the criminal on the run, is particularly well-drawn, with his inner torments and moral ambiguity adding depth to the themes of the novel.

The book also succeeds in exploring societal issues with insight and nuance. The author is able to explore the themes of privilege, race, and power in a way that is authentic and thought-provoking, while never sacrificing the compelling plot of the novel.

The author's evocative writing style brings the story's setting to life, creating a sense of place that is both vivid and haunting. Her descriptive passages never feel overdone and serve to immerse the reader in the world of the novel.

Overall, this novel is an exceptional read that is both thought-provoking and engaging. The novel's intricate plot, well-realized characters, and social commentary make it a must-read for fans of the thriller genre. 4.5 stars.

So well written so tense a true page turner.Picked it up to read-a few pages and stayed up late could not put it down.Will be recommending the book and the author.#etgalley #urgentmatters

Compelling, Immersive..
A train crash in the Buenos Aires suburbs has tragic consequences. Many are dead but one man uses the devastation to plan his escape. It’s not long before police are on that man’s tail. A breathless thriller, fast and pacy and with a sharp edged narrative which becomes as much a social commentary as a police chase for a man wanted for murder. Translated well from the Spanish, a compelling and immersive read.

This book is an enjoyable and original thriller. It is entertaining and has an unusual concept. Its not a "who done it', more a "will they get away with it". The setting, just outside Buenos Aires, gives this book the little extra it needs to stand out. The translation is excellent, making it a smooth and enjoyable read.

First published in Spain in 2021; published in translation by Pushkin Vertigo on July 25, 2023

Urgent Matters is Argentinian noir spiced with dark humor. Its focus is on the reaction of characters to urgent events that always seem to surprise them.

Hugo Lamadrid is a passenger on a train that crashes. He survives, although he wakes up surrounded by corpses. He’s holding a prayer card for the patron saint of urgent matters when rescuers arrive to cut open his carriage and hoist him to freedom.

The rescuers take Hugo to a hospital. He lost his phone and wallet in the crash so he’s relieved when he isn’t quickly identified. Hugo seizes an opportunity to escape from the hospital. He’s worried that his friend Beto might have talked to the police. Beto is worried that the police are coming for him.

Hugo committed a small, unintended crime. Small in Hugo’s eyes, but the police might have a different view, even in Argentina. Beto helped him clean up the mess. Hugo wants to protect Beto but Hugo is not a deep thinker. “He’s pure intuition and argumentative noise.”

At the crash scene, Detective Osvaldo Domínguez finds Hugo’s phone and reads a text from Marta Lacase asking if Hugo is okay. After Domínguez visits Marta, she and her daughter Evelyn pack their bags with cash and leave Buenos Aires. They make an unexpected visit to Marta’s sister Mónica and their mother Olga in Colon, where Mónica works as the slot manager at a casino. Each family member seems to view crime as a useful sideline, although they often keep the details of their criminal enterprises hidden from each other.

Different characters have different opinions about whether Hugo is alive or dead. Only a couple of characters have opinions that are based on facts. El Rifle is a television journalist who knows Hugo. He makes a national news story out of the authorities’ inability to say whether Hugo died in the train accident. Evelyn would also like to know whether her father is alive or dead. Olga is unhappy when she learns that Hugo didn’t die in the crash, but she doesn’t share that knowledge with Evelyn or with reporters who are camped on her doorstep, covering the prayer vigil for Hugo.

Third-person point of view jumps from character to character to tell the unfolding story. The plot loosely follows Domínguez as he tries to learn the truth about Hugo’s fate (a truth that doesn’t concern his superiors, who believe the publicity will be more favorable to them if they simply report that Hugo is dead). To the extent that the story resolves, it does so shortly after a roller coaster ride that Hugo and Beto share.

Roller coasters are a popular metaphor for life, one that Hugo cannot help but notice. “The momentum comes from the first fall. It’s the only one that matters. Everything that comes after it is downhill, even if you’re going up. If you go up a little, it’s so you fall with more force. You’re falling from the start.” Such is life, or at least Hugo’s life.

Olga’s bitterness adds comic relief, as do arguments about which prayers for Hugo will play well with the television audience. The prayer-givers are fickle; when neither Hugo nor his corpse turn up after a couple of days, they lose interest. If prayers go unanswered, maybe it’s time to pray for something else. The media’s fixation on a story about which they know nothing is another source of humor.

My favorite comic moments involve Mónica’s impressive collection of vibrators. Evelyn panics when she steals a cellphone that she hides in a vibrator box. Getting caught with the vibrator is somewhat preferable to getting caught with the stolen phone, despite the lectures she must endure about the damage a vibrator can cause to a virgin.

Urgent Matters is not the kind of crime story that builds tension with each plot twist. The plot is simple and linear; nearly all violence occurs offstage. Like prayer, crime and corruption are simply part of Argentinian life. Characters write their own fates and (like Donnie Brasco in the movie of the same name) they understand and accept without argument that their actions have inevitable consequences. The novel uses a crime plot to deliver grins and soft laughter rather than thrills. Because it does so effectively with sympathetic characters, Urgent Matters is a refreshing change from heavier fare.

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