It becomes obvious he will leave no stone unturned to try and solve this crime. So when he becomes involved in this macabre body incident, he gives it his full concentration. But, even so, he is a man who takes pride in what he does. He comes across as a bit of a plodder, a bit of a dullard, someone who is methodical to a ridiculous level in his line of work. He is the central character in the novel. Looks like a tough investigation looms for local Prosecutor by the name of Chacaltana. Judging by its dreadful state, not only some form of foul play but also some form of torture has been used. The very first sentence concerns the sudden discovery of a body. Brutality, cruelty, election-rigging and a people living in terror - are all present in his effective but also surprisingly gentle prose. As the New York Times declares, 'Lima is once again one of Latin America's brightest literary scenes.'From the Hardcover edition.Summary: Award-winning Roncagliolo gives his readers a taste of Peru in this novel.

As it unfolds by propulsive twists and turns-full of paradoxes and surprises-Saldivar is compelled to confront what happens to a man and a society when death becomes the only certainty in life.Stunning for its self-assured and nimble clarity of style-reminiscent of classic noir fiction-the inexorable momentum of its plot, and the moral complexity of its concerns, Red April is at once riveting and profound, informed as it is by deft artistry in the shaping of conflict between competing venalities. But, inexplicably, he has been put in charge of a bizarre and horrible murder investigation. Until now he has lived a life in which nothing exceptionally good or bad has ever happened to him.

It evokes Holy Week during a cruel, bloody, and terrifying time in Peru's history, shocking for its corrosive mix of assassination, bribery, intrigue, torture, and enforced disappearance-a war between grim, ideologically-driven terrorism and morally bankrupt government counterinsurgency.Mother-haunted, wife-abandoned, literature-loving, quietly eccentric Felix Chacaltana Saldivar is a hapless, by-the-book, unambitious prosecutor living in Lima. A chilling, internationally acclaimed political thriller, Red April is a grand achievement in contemporary Latin American fiction, written by the youngest winner ever of the Alfaguara Prize-one of the most prestigious in the Spanish-speaking world-and translated from the Spanish by one of our most celebrated literary translators, Edith Grossman.

Red april by santiago roncagliolo