Book: Valley of Shadows
Author: Rudy Ruiz
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing https://www.blackstonepublishing.com/
Release Date: September 20, 2022
Genre: Magical Realism
Summary: In the volatile borderlands surrounding the Rio Grande, Americans and Mexicans have been at war for years over where one nation stops and another begins. It's 1870, and former sheriff Solitario Cisneros lives just outside of the border town of Olvido, content to be alone and mourn the loss of his wife. When a series of gruesome murders begin to occur in town, though, Solitario is recruited to return to his post and attempt to solve the mystery. With little to go on, he may have to turn to supernatural forces to discover what's threatening the already-tenuous future of the town and its citizens. He turns to Onawa, a Mexican-Apache woman whose powers of divining and tenacious attitude might help him save the town — and discover some things about himself along the way. The publisher's description says it best: "As we follow Solitario and Onawa into the desert, we join them in facing haunting questions about the human condition that are as relevant today as they were back then: Can we rewrite our own history and shape our own future? What does it mean to belong to a place, or for a place to belong to a people? And, as lonely and defeated as we might feel, are we ever truly alone?"
My Thoughts: From a truly shocking and gruesome start, this book carries its reader along like the river that runs through the heart of it. It twists and turns, at times tranquil and at others rapid and tumultuous. It's exactly what I wanted from a book marketed as "a neo-Western blend of magical realism, mystery, and horror." The desert setting, the dynamic river, and the essence of folklore create a setting and tone to the story that continually drew me in. Solitario's story, in the main plot of the book and in flashbacks to his life during the war, has elements of a classic Western, complete with gunslinging and dramatic rescues on horseback. His mission to save the citizens of Olvido blends mystery and horror — the depictions of the murders are truly terrifying, and the reader gets to follow the clues as Solitario discovers them. However, what sets this book apart is the thread of magical realism that runs throughout it. Ghosts, curses, Aztec rituals, and divination are regular occurrences in Solitario's world, but they serve to highlight the real, human struggles that these characters face — loneliness, cultural and border conflicts, racism and discrimination, and the impact of history on the present and the future. Throughout it all, this novel explores the conflicts that arise on the borders: between nations, between races, between life and death, between love and loneliness.
Content Warnings: Graphic murder, injury, gore, kidnapping, racism, sexual violence, grief, death
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
Buy it from Bookshop or from the publisher in English or Spanish!
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