Snow Is Silent by
Benjamin Prado
pbk out May 05
(Faber)
at £7.99
This brief and breezy novel, first published in Spain five years ago, is touted
by the publishers as 'a noirish tale of sexual obsession in the tradition of James
M.Cain's "Double Indemnity"'. It deals with the interwoven lives of three men:
a doctor, a would-be novelist, and a clerk at an insurance company. We know from
the start that one of them will set out to kill Laura Salinas, but a pleasing
twist is that the narrator conceals from us which of them it will be. A similarly
tricky device was employed half a century ago by Richard Hull in a now-forgotten
novel, 'A Matter of Nerves', but Prado handles it with much more flair. If his
book is less than wholly original in some superficial respects, it nevertheless
commands attention because the prose (Sam Richard supplies the translation) is
so vivid and the characters quirkily appealing. Alcaen Sanchez, the clerk, takes
centre stage for most of the book. He is one of life's losers, a fantasist who
pretends to be a wealthy prospective buyer of houses far beyond his means. When
he falls for a glamorous estate agent, he conceives an ingenious robbery, but
finishes up committing the shockingly brutal murder. Alcaen has been manipulated
– but by whom, and why? Very enjoyable.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
Snow Is Silent by
Benjamin Prado
