Velvet Was the Night
Readers rate it 3.6 (88 on Hardcover)
326 pages · Released Aug 17, 2021 · Del Rey
Content report card
Velvet Was the Night parent’s guide: what’s inside
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This is an adult historical noir set during Mexico's dangerous 1970s political era, featuring organized crime, state violence, and murder as central plot elements. While not graphically explicit, the book contains sustained themes of brutality, corruption, and moral ambiguity that require mature readers. The protagonists are morally compromised characters in a dark world, and the narrative does not offer uplifting messages or clear role models, making it unsuitable for most teens under 16.
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From the publisher
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a simmering historical noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of the missing woman they’re both desperate to find. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR,... GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a simmering historical noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of the missing woman they’re both desperate to find. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, New York Public Library, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, BookPage, She Reads, Library Journal • “An adrenalized, darkly romantic journey.”—The Washington Post Mexico in the 1970s is a dangerous country, even for Maite, a secretary who spends her life seeking the romance found in cheap comic books and ignoring the activists protesting around the city. When her next-door neighbor, the beautiful art student Leonora, disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman—and journeying deeper into Leonora’s secret life of student radicals and dissidents. Mexico in the 1970s is a politically fraught land, even for Elvis, a goon with a passion for rock ’n’ roll who knows more about kidney-smashing than intrigue. When Elvis is assigned to find Leonora, he begins a blood-soaked search for the woman—and his soul. Swirling in parallel trajectories, Maite and Elvis attempt to discover the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, encountering hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies. Because Mexico in the 1970s is a noir, where life is cheap and the price of truth is high.
Shelved under
- Fiction
- Unloveable Characters
- Weak Character Development
- Diverse Characters
- Plot driven
- Not Diverse Characters
- Strong Character Development
- A mix driven
- Character driven
- Loveable Characters
- mysterious
- dark
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ISBN 9780593356838 · Del Rey