Rodrigo Rey Rosa Book order

This sumptuously written thriller asks probing questions about how we live with each other and with our planet. Raised on his wits on the streets of Central America, the Cobra, a young debt collector and gang enforcer, has never had the chance to discern between right and wrong, until he's assigned the murder of Polo, a prominent human rights activist--and his friend. When his conscience gives him pause and his patrón catches on, a remote Mayan community offers the Cobra a potential refuge, but the people there are up against predatory mining companies. With danger encroaching, the Cobra is forced to confront his violent past and make a decision about what he's willing to risk in the future, and who it will be for. Following the Cobra, Polo, a faction of drug-dealing oligarchs, and Jacobo, a child caught in the crosshairs, Rey Rosa maps an extensive web of corruption upheld by decades of political oppression. A scathing indictment of exploitation in all its forms, The Country of Toó is a gripping account of what it means to consider societal change under the constant threat of violence.

A new translation of the Guatemalan author whom Roberto Bolano called the most rigorous writer of my generation, the most transparent...the most luminous of all.

Set against the backdrop of Guatemala City, the story follows Juan Luis Luna, who is kidnapped and held captive in a desolate underground fuel tank. As his father remains unresponsive to ransom demands, the kidnappers resort to horrific violence, testing the limits of familial bonds and human resilience. The narrative explores profound themes of mutilation, violence, and the possibility of transcendence, all conveyed through Rodrigo Rey Rosa's clear yet haunting prose. The novel delves into the psychological aftermath of trauma, making it a gripping and thought-provoking read.