by Lewis Shiner
First published 2011
Rob Cavenaugh arrives in Buenos Aires broken and displaced. His marriage has collapsed, forcing him to start over in an unfamiliar city where Spanish mingles with memories of violence. His luck changes when he encounters Elena on the dance floor. She moves with grace and speaks with intelligence, but shadows follow her everywhere. Elena carries secrets from Argentina's Dirty War, when military death squads made citizens vanish without trace during the 1970s. She warns Rob that he cannot comprehend her past, yet he finds himself drawn deeper into her world. The tango halls pulse with music and passion, but underneath lies a darker rhythm. Stories of kidnapping and torture refuse to stay buried. Betrayals from decades past reach into the present, threatening to destroy what Rob and Elena have built together. Rob discovers that in Argentina, history never truly ends. The disappeared leave wounds that never heal, and justice remains an unfinished dance.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, thriller, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Argentina, Buenos Aires
Period: 1970s
213 pages · Hardcover · Subterranean Pr
Content warnings: violence