Book Review of Valley of Shadows by Rudy Ruiz
Characters that haunt you long after the book has been closed. A plot that beckons you to return and complete the journey. Scenes that transport you to unfamiliar and intriguing landscapes. Subtext rich with allusions, layered themes, and foreshadowing so occluding you are pleasantly surprised by the conclusion.
These are the elements that make a great novel. And the elements found on each page of Valley of Shadows by Rudy Ruiz.
Solitario Cisneros echos at once of Stephen King’s Roland of Gilead, and even Sir Thomas Malory’s King Arthur in reader’s minds. The tragic hero has a special connection to the supernatural, and reveals his world to the curious through well-timed revelations.
The detective with incorporeal informants crosses the veil between worlds as easily as taking his trusty steed over the dry Rio Grande river bed. And the reader is carried along into every shocking incident, every unsettling encounter, and every mystifying development of the case.
The narrator does an excellent job with setting the tone through well-paced phrasing and emphasis. His mastery of the Spanish language makes it easy for a reader with…
