Friday, February 25, 2011

Manuel Ramos

So I'm happy with my Kindle success so far - Amazon now officially owes me money instead of the other way around - but I'm also thinking things like "Who else should really get in on this?" Well, everybody who writes for money, really. but I come up with a name that makes me think "Perfect!" Manuel Ramos.

Do you know Manuel Ramos? Good chance you don't but if you like mystery/crime stories, you really ought to get to know him. Lyrical, jazzy prose. That's what I think when I think of Ramos. And one of the great noir novels - Moony's Road to Hell. Just gut wrenching. The fact that the book is hard to find or out of print is pretty much criminal.
Try this novel: Blues for the Buffalo. Still in print.

You think I'm kidding when I say this guy needs to be read? Here's some stuff I grabbed off of Amazon:
From Publishers Weekly
Noir fans won't want to miss Moony's Road to Hell, by Denver attorney Manuel Ramos (Blues for the Buffalo and three other books in his Luis Montez series). The murder of an INS agent sends Denver PI Danny "Moony" Mora on a body-strewn quest that involves Mora's old enemy, lawyer Victor Delgado, and reaches back to the 1970s, when Chicano activism was at its peak.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
...brings to mind the big-screen crime stories of the '40s with...complicated heroes and sinister situations...defies easy comparisons. -- The Houston Chronicle, October 4, 2002

Like Chandler ... the structure ... is less a plot, and more a straight, inexorable march to ruin... Ramos pulls no punches. -- San Antonio Express-News, November 17, 2002

Ramos has skillfully built a theme of dramatic and disturbing betrayals...engaging, a page-turner...a skillfully crafted tale.... -- The Bloomsbury Review, May/June 2003

Ramos spins a...darker...more violent tale here than in his previous books; noir fans will revel in the journey. -- Southwest BookViews, Spring 2003

The book's strength lies in the carefully observed people who vividly live their lives in its pages. -- The Rocky Mountain News, September 6, 2002


I'm not just making this stuff up. Don't need to. His work speaks for itself. Anyway. There's someone you have to be able to get on Kindle.

Learn more about the man and his work here.

I haven't read his latest - King of the Chicanos - but I most certainly will.

1 Comments:

Blogger Manuel Ramos said...

I don't really blush - I'm kinda dark-skinned, but this post came close. Thanks, pal. You may be interested to know that King of the Chicanos is available as an e-book, all formats including Kindle. Maybe, one day, Moony will also be available on the cloud.

February 26, 2011 12:53 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home