Silver Nitrate

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Overall:

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s books are a treat for horror fans who don’t want anything too gory or graphic, and Silver Nitrate is right on the mark. Set in Mexico City in the 1990s, the book centers on Montserrat, a struggling sound editor for films, and her childhood best friend Tristán, a former soap opera acting star with a dark personal history.  Montserrat, obsessed with horror films and nursing an unrequited love for Tristán, is excited to discover that Tristán’s new neighbor is Abel Urueta, the director of a legendary unfinished film.  As Montserrat and Tristán get pulled into Abel’s orbit, they discover that rumors about the film – that it was part of an occult ritual – might not just be rumors after all.  If you like books about strange cults, the world of classic films of the 1950s and 1960s, and/or psychological horror, this one’s for you!

Likes: Montserrat, a bisexual, disabled Mexican woman in the 1990s who spends her days obsessively editing audio for films, knows everything about horror movies, and doesn’t suffer fools, is a unique and compelling main character.  She believably steps into the strange, underground universe of Nazis, warlocks, and blood sacrifice that the book creates.  The relationship between her and Tristán was interesting and complicated enough to keep me reading even when the horror elements were a bit on hold. Those horror elements grew incrementally as the story progressed, pulling the reader gradually down the same obsessive rabbit hole that snatched Montserrat and Tristán. The book does a great job of showing how we can become so lost in our own reality that we become blind to everything else around us.

Dislikes: Parts of the middle section got a bit bogged down as Montserrat and Tristán kept getting distracted from their investigation.  And I’m still not sure what I think about the ending – I didn’t totally dislike it, but it felt a bit tidy and cheery for a horror book.

FYI: violence, murder, Naziism, misogyny.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advance copy. All opinions are my own.