Im Morgengrauen

by Guillermo Orsi

Dezember 2001. Argentinien kurz vor dem Staatsbankrott. Es gärt in den Städten. Tausende haben über Nacht ihr ganzes Geld verloren, sie ziehen vor die Banken, protestieren lautstark gegen die Regierung, es kommt zu Plünderungen und Razzien in den Slums.

Durch einen Anruf wird der Handelsvertreter Gotán Martelli mitten ins Epizentrum dieser Staatskrise geworfen. Edmundo Cárcano, hohes Tier beim Ölkonzern CPF, fleht ihn an, sofort zu ihm zu kommen. Als Martelli bei seinem Freund eintrifft, ist dieser tot. Und seine junge Geliebte liegt kurz darauf ermordet in Gotáns Bett. Als dann auch noch Cárcanos Tochter entführt wird, ist Martellis detektivischer Spürsinn geweckt.

Noch ahnt er nicht, wie viel das plötzliche Chaos mit seiner Zeit als Polizist während der Militärjunta und mit seiner großen Liebe Mireya zu tun hat. Die einzige Gewissheit, die er hat: Der Tod eilt ihm immer zwei Schritte voraus. Und dass es lebensgefährlich ist, den eigenen Schritt zu beschleunigen ..

Genres: Ebooks, Crime

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

Guillermo Orsi (born 1946) is an Argentine journalist and crime novelist. He has written several acclaimed works of crime fiction, several of which have been translated into English.

He lives and works in Buenos Aires.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came away from this book with a very strong sense of a culture that is profoundly different from my own, despite the idea that the main character Pablo Martelli seems to spend as much time driving great distances as we do. I also came away from this book with a profound sense of confusion. To this day, I'm really not sure what on earth was going on, I'm not even 100% that Martelli knew what was happening, and there were points when I wondered aloud if the author had the slightest idea what was supposed to be happening as well.

I won't be at all surprised to hear that many fans of straight up and down crime fiction find NO-ONE LOVES A POLICEMAN profoundly boring, profoundly confusing, profoundly pointless or some combination thereof. It was all of that for this reader as well, although I stuck with it mostly because of a very strong sense of a culture, and because I just had this sneaking feeling that Martelli was as confused as I was. And I did kind of like him as a character, and every now and then I don't mind having no idea what's happening fictionally. Sort of seems to match life really. But this is really is an odd book, and I'm not sure I would recommend it to everyone, but if you're looking for something different, then NO-ONE LOVES A POLICEMAN definitely meets that criteria.

[Elena · Rating 1 out of 5]

No se la recomiendo ni a mi peor enemigo. Coñazo épico, argentinazo sin igual.

[Miguel Falcón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pablo Martelli es un ex-cana (ex-policía) sexagenario que esconde muchos secretos, con tendencia a meterse en líos y a enamorarse de la mujer inadecuada. Durante el transcurso de la novela se dedica a vender inodoros aunque no venda ninguno, y sin embargo se encuentra con un muerto a cada paso que da, como si le persiguieran por culpa de sus antiguos pecados.

Confieso que en ciertos momentos la trama política en la que se mueve la novela se enreda hasta alcanzar niveles indescifrables, sobre todo si no estás versado en la historia argentina de las últimas décadas.

Sin embargo, esta novela nos deja un ramillete de sentencias geniales, de frases sinuosas y de escenas duras que la convierten en altamente recomendable para los amantes de la literatura policiaca.

Desde mi punto de vista se merece cuatro ensangrentadas estrellas.

"... Pero el libre albedrío es una farsa. La única libertad de la que disfrutamos es la de elegir a nuestros enemigos".
(Guillermo Orsi)

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to really love this book as I'm fascinated with Argentinian culture, especially all things tango, and while aspects of the writing were good - I got a very good sense of place, which I always love in a novel - I just got a little confused with the politics, and the storyline and found that I didn't really like the main character and didn't really care whether he lived or died. I'm afraid I found myself rushing to finish as I have a huge stack of books next to my bed and my mind kept drifting to what I could read next.

[Julia]

Was interesting getting a real feel for Argentinian life. quite a mix of characters with the lead character (an ex policeman) being as usual 'flawed'. I admit to scimming much of the last pages though as the politics etc got quite confusing

[Ann Tonks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The descriptions of Argentina, its politics, its history, its geography were great. I didn't quite connect with the lead (perhaps the writing was too masculine for my taste) but it was interesting and well written book.

[!Tæmbuŝu]

Reviewed by The Independent

[Sage · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this one, you got a very strong sense of place and learnt a few interesting details about life in Argentina. As a novel though, it wasn't exactly the most coherent narrative ever.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

its thrilling and have many unexpected scenes, loved this one although the writing style of the author can make us bored easily.