Depths of the Forest

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Depths of the Forest - Rated
This was my first expereince of Eugenio Fuentes, recommended to me by a friend who is Spanish and knows the region in which the book is set. I was suspicious at first because translated books really depend on an accurate and sensitive translator. I am so pleased to be able to say that I found this book a delight. It was addictive. Every aspect of this novel is held together and integrated with such narrative skill that I never felt any disjunction between the characterizations, plot and landscape. I trust that you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

The Depths of the Forest, Eugenio Fuentes - Rated
Oh, wonderful! Absolutely wonderful. Yet another excellent crime novel from mainland Europe. The Depths of the Forest is a careful, detailed piece of fiction that's written wonderfully and has a rare psychological depth not often found in this kind of straight PI novel.

It's remarkably atmospheric. It's full of images of humanity doing ill toward nature, acting monstrously and shamefully toward it, while the forest just exists in the only way it knows how. Humans are needlessly and, sometimes, apallingly cruel and exploitive, but while nature is occasionally harsh it is never with malice. It's at times uncomfortable to read a book in which man is so clearly the ultimate bad guy, acting cruelly and callously towards both itself and nature, but it's nonetheless an excellent read. The protagonist fits well into the traditional Private Detective mould, and the writing is fresh thanks to a great translation.

From an excellent small publisher, this book really needs its praises sung. If you've read and liked other crime fiction from Europe, this chilling and evocative crime novel is one you should really get hold of. There's a second one to be published later this year, which I'm very very glad about indeed now.

Will someone please translate more of these! - Rated
This is the best crime book that I have read all year and I am amazed that only one other tale by this author has been published in English and that is hard to get hold of. The story is about a number of murders that occur in a Forest (perhaps not surprisingly). Issues of land rights and ecology are developed. The story is told through the minds of many different characters in the novel (even though there is one inspector who draws it all together)and it is fascinating to watch as the jigsaw gradually fits together from these different perspectives - it makes a refreshing change from the usual crime novel. The writing is clear and the storyline is compulsive. I love European and World Crime Novels. This one would win my top award for 2003. Best Spaniard since Perez-Revere started writing.