Attorney Luis Montez and Felix “Gato” Guerrero, childhood friends who have survived numerous obstacles, are finally prospering. Luis is making more money in his chosen profession than he ever has and is excited about his work. Felix has gotten his life back in order after his time in Vietnam and the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter. He has even found love again. But Felix has always had a knack for getting into trouble—and this time he’s dragging Luis along with him!
Felix’s new beloved is a girl from their past who worked her way out of Denver’s Northside barrio by marrying into the city’s most notorious crime family. Her husband runs the business and people who mess with him—or his things—end up with their brains splattered all over the county. As Luis juggles his caseload, including one against the local police for beating up a Mexican-American woman, and helping her hoodlum son, he gets caught up in the lovebirds’ attempt to escape her dangerous husband. But he’s not the only one looking for El Gato, and all too soon bodies start piling up around them!
Originally published in 1994 by St. Martin’s Press and reissued by Northwestern University Press in 2004, this riveting second installment in the Luis Montez Mystery series of five novels takes readers on a wild ride through Denver’s mean streets and deadly encounters with young gangbangers, established gangsters and even those tasked with protecting residents—cops who continue to harass brown people with impunity.
“A powerful, distinctive series.”—Publishers Weekly on The Ballad of Gato Guerrero
“The evil and retribution are distributed with a hand so generous it smacks of second-novel blues, though Ramos miraculously ties up more loose ends than you’d ever have imagined.”—Kirkus Reviews on The Ballad of Gato Guerrero
Praise for the work of Manuel Ramos:
“One thing is almost as certain as death and corruption: Manuel Ramos’ Chicano angst. You’ll find plenty of all three in his jazzy, fast-paced and delirious whodunits, which stand as an unparalleled achievement in American crime literature.”—Ilan Stavans
“Manuel Ramos is one of my all-time favorite authors and in My Bad he delivers everything I look for in a noir tale. Gus Corral is the guy I want on my side if I’m in trouble and Ramos proves once again he is the master of creating great characters. Clear your schedule and be prepared to read this blitz attack of noir in one sitting.”
—Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine on My Bad
“Ramos explores issues of the border, identity, violence and slights from outside the community, as well as within. They are thought-provoking and unpredictable. Many linger long after they end; and often they contain depth charges that explode in the reader’s mind after the story has ended. His novels belong on your book shelves.”—Los Angeles Review of Books on The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories
“Ramos puts Latinos back in the picture. He is known as a crime writer, but that doesn’t quite capture what he does. His books are love stories, political dramas, mordant cautionary tales. Characters who are Latino, black and white, artists, professionals and laborers, are described in staccato chapters, like a catchy corrido.”—Los Angeles Times on The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories
“The Godfather of Chicano noir hits us hard with this collection. Great range, dark visions and lots of mojo—much of it bad to the bone. A fine book!”—Luis Alberto Urrea, author of Into the Beautiful North, on The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories
“As invigorating as a dip in a Rocky Mountain stream.”—Mystery Scene on Desperado: A Mile High Noir
“A dark mix of North Denver gangsters and Catholicism, but it’s [the] setting that really grips readers. Nostalgia is combined with reality…Ramos gets it right.”—Denver Post on Desperado: A Mile High Noir
“Ramos succeeds brilliantly in marrying style and substance to form a seamlessly entertaining novel [with] characters and scenes deeply etched with admirable brevity and skill.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Blues for the Buffalo
“A thickly atmospheric first novel—with just enough mystery to hold together a powerfully elegiac memoir of the heady early days of Chicano activism.”—Kirkus Reviews on The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz
“A very impressive debut.”—Los Angeles Times on The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz
MANUEL RAMOS is the recipient of several literary awards for his books, which include The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz (Arte Público Press, 2023), an Edgar Award finalist; Angels in the Wind: A Mile High Noir (Arte Público Press, 2021); The Golden Havana Night (Arte Público Press, 2018); My Bad (Arte Público Press, 2016); Desperado (Arte Público Press, 2013); and The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories (Arte Público Press, 2015). Inducted into the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame in 2021, he lives and works in Denver, Colorado.
