The Little Dog Laughed (Dave Brandstetter, #8) in Q&A with Josh Lanyon

May 17, 2012 Paola rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned-as-print

Though some of the events in this book Dave gets involved in seem to stretch the believability factor just a little, as he gets tangled in political/military issues that are much bigger than anything he's previously had to face, I still find these books very satisfying and just a pleasure to read. Equally satisfying is the balance between Hansen's dry humour against some very serious and painful issues a book like this tries to tackle, also within the context of the US's political agenda in Lati ...more

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Jan 20, 2014 Antonella rated it it was amazing

Shelves: brandstetter-series-challenge

I can relate to the events more than usual because I was very much involved with the support to the Central American revolutionaries movements end of the '70 and then in the '80.

The counter-revolutionaries groups were financed by the US government officially or unofficially (after the Congress vetoed this support, Reagan provided it illegally, see Iran-Contra Affair... ) and helped by the CIA. They did commit all sorts of human rights violations, because this was part of their strategy. See htt I can relate to the events more than usual because I was very much involved with the support to the Central American revolutionaries movements end of the '70 and then in the '80.

The counter-revolutionaries groups were financed by the US government officially or unofficially (after the Congress vetoed this support, Reagan provided it illegally, see Iran-Contra Affair... ) and helped by the CIA. They did commit all sorts of human rights violations, because this was part of their strategy. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras
Of course also the other side wasn't exactly non violent, but violence against the civilians was never a strategy for them.

Although Hansen is not referring to specific facts, some references are real: for ex. the harbors in Nicaragua were mined by the CIA in 1984 (The Complete Brandstetter, page 746, Chapter 13). A very detailed story in the LATime. Nicaragua brought the case to the International Court of Justice which ruled against the US.

I thought that non political people or people who at the time were not yet born or very young might miss the references. Or someone might consider Hansen as extraordinarily imaginative in thinking that the US would mine the harbors of another free nation...

Another real fact: the assassinated archbishop mentioned (The Complete Brandstetter, page 767, Chapter 17, a bit more than one page from the beginning) is Oscar Romero, the Catholic archbishop of San Salvador.

He had an interesting story: being a conservative, when he was elected Archbishop all the priests connected to the liberation theology were upset and thought they couldn't expect help from him against social injustice and violations of human rights.

But on one side he experienced the suffering of the poor, on the other side he saw one of his close friends murdered, and this made Romero change his perspective.

He spoke out for the poor and against the violations of human rights. As a result he was shot dead in 1980 as he was celebrating mass. No one was ever prosecuted for the assassination. An ex US Ambassador spoke to the Congress of "sufficient evidence" to convict of the murder the infamous Roberto D'Aubuisson, who had created and commanded death squads responsible of hundreds of killings of civilians. But he was never prosecuted.

For the book itself you might read a good review by Paola. I agree with all she said ;-). ...more

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Sep 10, 2013 Deanna rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, m-m, fav-authors, adventure

Another interesting mystery although the Latin political element and rouge US Colonel were a bit of a stretch. Still Hansen can write a terse image filled story. I love Cecil and hope there is more of him and Dave in the rest of the series especially because of Cecil's actions at the end of the book. I want Dave to have true love and Cecil is so good for him. I refuse to peek and am reading them in order. ...more

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