Return to the Same City

by Paco Ignacio Taibo II

Book Overview

Hector Belascoaran Shayne has danced with the dead. Luke Estrella does the rumba in white patent leather shoes. Together, they make the perfect pair to lead each other into an inferno under an azure... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892965908
• ISBN13: 9780892965908
• Release Date: September 1996
• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Philosophical, One-eyed Gumshoe

Spanish-born, Mexican-raised author Paco Ignacio Taibo II's philosophical, one-eyed gumshoe Héctor Belascoarán Shayne rises from the dead for another novel. Tranlsated from Spanish, "Return to the Same City" isn't about the physical Mexico City and Acapulco (although it helps to be familiar with their respective politics). Instead, "Return to the Same City" is about Shayne's reacquaint with himself - his life after his death in 1993's "No Happy Ending". His first case after some recuperation, Shayne (half-Irish, on his mother's side) investigates a woman's claim that her brother-in-law is involved in some shady business. Under multiple pseudonyms, the criminal makes deals with politicians, government agents, and drug dealers. With the help of an alcoholic American reporter, Shayne follows the mysterious man to Acapulco. What's really going on here? Who is this mysterious man? Even better: who is the client? Allusions to the hard-boiled fiction masters are scattered throughout Taibo's novel, especially that of Raymond Chandler. Shayne thinks to himself that "Chandler forgot to prohibit detectives from getting metaphysical". Well, that's plenty made up for in "Return to the Same City"; Shayne often waxes poetic on his rebirth and on returning to Mexico City. It's an engaging read, even if the previous novels about Shayne have not been read. It can stand on its own, and may work best this way since his resurrection is glossed over by both author and character.

wonderful fun

Surreal and funny, this book is full of atmosphere and presence. Warning: some things don't make perfect sense, but yet again they do. You need to suspend judgment and accept things as they are.

you will find no better mystery/comedy novel.

This book will make you laugh and cry . . . but if you are a conservative aging white male you won't appreciate PI Taibo II's extravagant sense of humour.

If Hamlet were a post-modern Mexican private eye

Paco Ignacio Taibo's existence-beleaguered private eye continues to roam the streets of Mexico City in search of good sense and moral behavior even after his apparent death. The P.I.'s name, Shayne, plays off the traditional P.I. -- represented by Brett Halliday's character Mike Shayne -- and the lone-outsider-as-hero -- represented by Jack Schaeffer's/Alan Ladd's cowboy Shane. With none of the boisterous control of the former and never quite attaining the quiet dignity of the latter, Taibo's Shayne feels the weight of his Mexico City -- one part Chaos Theory, one part Entropy, one part gritty-greedy-urban-monster -- as it bears down on its inhabitants, who look for fun and hope in every unlikely place. Shayne wants things to be simple and to make sense, but they rarely do in his world, no matter how hard he tries to make it so. World weary, witty, and marvelously funny, I'm glad Shayne came back from the dead. I hope we see more of his adventures in translation.