Ex-con Gus Corral is fresh out of jail and intent on keeping his nose clean. He’s living in his sister’s basement, which he shares with a cat or two, Corrine’s CDs and their father’s record collection. The blues music in particular strikes a chord, matching the way he feels about his current state.
Things start to look up when Gus gets a job working as an investigator for his attorney, Luis Montez. An activist in the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Montez is slowing down and getting close to retirement, and he figures the felon can do the legwork on his cases. When María Contreras comes to see the lawyer about her dead husband’s “business partner”—someone she has never heard of who’s demanding his share of the profits of a business she knew nothing about—Montez has Gus look into the situation.
Narrating the story in alternating chapters, Gus and Luis recount their run-ins with suspicious characters as they learn that there’s more to the case than meets the eye. The widow’s husband owned and operated a local bar, not a Mexican folk art import company called Aztlán Treasures. And word on the street is that he was murdered on his boat in the Sea of Cortez. Soon, the dead bodies are piling up and the pair is surrounded by shadowy figures that point to money laundering, drug smuggling and even Mexican crime cartels.
The follow-up to Desperado, Ramos’ first novel featuring Gus Corral, My Bad races to a walloping conclusion in a Rocky Mountain blizzard, leaving fans of crime novels—and Chicano literature—eagerly awaiting the next installment in his mile-high noir.
“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
“Ramos vividly and affectionately portrays the Mile High City’s Mexican-American heritage and culture.”—Publishers Weekly
“My Bad is arguably Ramos’ finest novel. It is the people, the dialogue, the humor and the sense of place that make [it] so compelling. Ramos bring to life the old Northside, its culture, its people, its music and color. My Bad is a fine mystery with an unexpected ending, but it is also a view by an insider into the life of one of Denver’s unique neighborhoods that may one day disappear.”—The Denver Post
“Ramos captures the fast-changing landscape on the west and north sides of Denver, largely due to gentrification… The plot thickens like a slow-simmering pot of pozole. The contrast in characters is vivid. Gus is eager to do the right thing, to shed his old skin as troublemaker, a banger. Luis knows the end of his career is coming, but doesn’t know what’s next. He’s looking ahead, a bit anxiously, and taking in the fast-changing city with a touch of nostalgia. Can a Mile High Noir finish on the upbeat side? Don’t forget, the sun shines more often than not.”—New York Journal of Books
“Using an economy of words reminiscent of Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain, Mr. Ramos puts the reader on the ground in the fast-disappearing north Denver neighborhoods whose Hispanic identity is being lost to an unrelenting assault of yuppification, urbanization and ever higher real estate prices. With surprises galore, action and plot twists, and even a little pop music history in every chapter, plus a stunning denouement you’ll never see coming, My Bad is great crime fiction and entertaining reading. It’s so authentic you’ll feel like you grew up in the neighborhood!”—John Dwaine McKenna, Mysterious Book Report
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
“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
“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 bookshelves.” —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
MANUEL RAMOS is the recipient of several literary awards and the author of numerous novels, including Desperado: A Mile High Noir (Arte Público Press, 2013), The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories (Arte Público Press, 2015), Brown-on-Brown: A Luis Montez Mystery (University of New Mexico Press, 2003) and The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz (St. Martin’s Press, 1993; Northwestern University Press, 2004), and an Edgar Award finalist. He lives and works in Denver, Colorado.
