Next month — February 16th, to be specific — Jo Fletcher Books are due to publish Silvia Moreno-Garcia‘s acclaimed mystery/noir novel UNTAMED SHORE! Here’s the synopsis…
Baja California, 1979: Viridiana spends her days under the harsh sun, watching the fishermen pulling in their nets and the dead sharks piled beside the seashore. Her head is filled with dreams of romance, travel and of a future beyond this drab town where her only option is to marry and have children.
When a wealthy American writer arrives with his wife and brother-in-law, Viridiana jumps at the offer of a job as his assistant, and she’s soon entangled in the glamorous foreigners’ lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from her humdrum life. When one of them dies, eager to protect her new friends, Viridiana lies – but soon enough, someone’s asking questions. It’s not long before Viridiana has some of her own questions about the identities of her new acquaintances.
Sharks may be dangerous, but there are worse predators nearby, ready to devour a naïve young woman unwittingly entangled in a web of deceit.
UNTAMED SHORE, first published in 2000, has received a number of great reviews. Here are just a few of them…
‘This thriller sets a quiet tone before building slowly and evenly, showing how a meek teenager trapped by circumstance grows into a strong woman who takes control of her future.’ — Library Journal (Starred Review)
‘This insightful look at criminal lifefrom the viewpoint of a sardonic yet lonely soul seems destined for more plaudits.’ — Booklist (Starred Review)
‘Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s UNTAMED SHORE is an engrossing book […] astounding in both its maturity and its cynicism.’ — Mystery Scene
‘[This] compelling crime debut […] is a small masterpiece and presages well for Moreno-Garcia if she continues on a criminal path.’ — Crime Time
‘This is a really good slow-burn suspense novel […] if you like character driven suspense, and are looking for an interesting setting you’ve probably never read before, definitely pick this one up!’ — Book Riot
‘Silvia Moreno-Garcia continues her streak of amazing novels with UNTAMED SHORE. Her writing […] sets the stage brilliantly and the reader truly can picture the village in Baja. Once you’re in this book, you’re in it. It’s nearly impossible to put down, even when the reader is mentally screaming at Viridinana to not be naive and just walk away.’ — Fangirl Nation
‘The Great Gatsby meets Night of the Iguana in this elegantly spare and darkly twisted story of undercurrents, deception, and colliding cultures.’ — Hank Phillipi Ryan
‘Atmospheric, compelling, and very suspenseful.’ — Alison Gaylin
‘UNTAMED SHORE is a masterpiece. I loved this book and can’t get Viridiana out of my head.’ — Amina Akhtar
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is also the author of the widely-acclaimed THE DAUGHTER OF DOCTOR MOREAU, also published in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books.
‘The imagination of Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a thing of wonder, restless and romantic, fearless in the face of genre, embracing the polarities of storytelling’ — New York Times
Zeno represents Silvia Moreno-Garcia in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.