Silver Nitrate

I picked up this novel because I was fortunate enough to hear the author speak (for free) at my local, public library. She talked mostly about three areas of her curiosity which led to her extensive research and then resulted in the story in this novel. These three are: First - the history of former Nazis and their interest in the occult both during WWII and then afterwards – often while they were in hiding/exile in the Americas. Second, the arc of a “haunted house story” especially as described by Henry James and other great writers. And third – which is the setting of the story – the Mexican film-making industry in the 1980’s and 1990’s as what had been a vibrant business was dying.

Hearing these story components helped me appreciate the novel much more than I would have without these insights. In fact, after the rather slow start of the story, I would have likely given up and put it into my DNF category. But, knowing that there was an occult-focused, “haunted house” story in the midst of so much (to me) uninteresting Mexican film industry setting, kept me going until the end.

And I’m glad I did as the story became more engaging around the middle. The relationship between the two characters began to pay off and the creepy occult aspects moved forward. And – no spoilers here – these together led to one of the coolest, wildest, and most enjoyable climatic scenes and final resolutions that I’ve read in a lite-horror novel in a long time! So, stay with it – you’ll be glad that you did!