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  • Reviews for Tequila Blue by Rolo Diez
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Reviews for Tequila Blue by Rolo Diez

'A bent copper in the Directorate of Operations, a quasi-political branch of the police of Mexico City is the hero of this short, sharp, cynical novel. Carlos Hernandez is broke, 40, fat, frustrated and totally corrupt. He's into money laundering, drug running, pimping, and selling hot pistols. He's got a missus at home, and a mistress on the side, plus a number of whores. Not the best situation for a cop with a big case, investigating the case of a documentary film maker/pornographer/snuff film producer. Tequila Blue is something like a Peckinpah movie: violent, funny, sad, as hot as salsa, as tasty as tacos and twice as enjoyable.'

- The Independent on Sunday

'Mexico City cop Carlos Hernandez has a wife, a mistress and a new girl friend waiting behind every door in Rolo Diez's fine homage to the noir novels of old. Though he has to supplement his minuscule paycheck with some private crime-gun running, the odd drug deal-Carlos values the idea of justice highly. When a foreign visitor with a taste for blue movies starring Mexican teen-age girls is murdered in his hotel room, Carlos puts all his energies into trying to track down the killer.'

- Publishers Weekly

'All the cops in this novel are corrupt; it is just a question of degree, with most of them having lucrative sidelines in order to finance their quest for justice in the swamp of organised crime and politics of Mexico City. The hero, detective carlos hernadez, for example, has to engae in gun running, money laundering and running a string of rpostitutes just to make ends meet. Hernandez is a rogue, of that there is no doubt, but an engaging rogue. Tequila Blue, surprisingly given the subject matter, is a refreshing and lively cocktail - a real tequila slammer of a crime story…'

- The Birmingham Post
'For a sharp, sexy and gritty look at Mexico warts and all then Rolo Diez's Tequila Blue is certainly a good place to start. Dark, noirish and at times downright sinister, it's the tale Mexican police officer Carlos Hernandez (or Carlito as he is known to the various women in his life). In a country where death is commonplace, Tequila Blue is a damning indictment of a nation torn by the run of the mill corruption that has a major hold on it. Translated from Spanish, it is stylishly told with brutal honesty. It is also a savagely droll satire on life in Mexico and what one must do to survive. Certainly a book to read not only for its insight as to how to survive in Mexico but also for the sexy crime adventure that it ultimately is.' - Shots Magazine

'The flavour of the writing is entirely different to anything we're used to from British and US writers. At times, it is fast and funny and, at others, savagely satirical, with occasional forays into philosophy. This is Diez's first outing in English - I can see him becoming something of a cult.'

- Morning Star
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