‘Strangers under the red moon’ by Nacho Herrero, the novel that Tarantino would have liked to write.

Excuse the clickbait on Tarantinobut he has been the person who has accompanied me throughout my journey with Strangers under the red moon. Also El tuerto, los Tomases, El Albino, Mar and, of course, Nacho Herrerothe author. And today I am pleased to be able to talk about this story that I fell in love with so much when I was just a manuscript cherub.

I met Strangers under the red moon in my role as literary agent. The previous review that you have available on the web, The echo of the forestalso mentions this part of my work, but both are two authors that I would like to have forever in my portfolio. I love how they write. And I say it from the heart. When I received Nacho’s novel, the first thing I thought was that it had a very different vibe to the rest. It is an agile read, halfway between dirty realism, thriller and the crime novel. That overflows with imagination, that has ironic and decadent characters, and strong, but justified scenes. It is possibly the book that I have read the most times in all these years of work. First, to polish it with Nacho Herrero. Then for pleasure once it was published. And, now, to refresh my memory for this review.

And my grade hasn’t gone down one bit.

It’s a 10 book.

The first scene we found did not exist in the original manuscript. You are going to find a flashforward where a woman brings a suitcase full of money to a man. A scene that reminds me a lot of the «nurse» from Kill Bill (Tarantino again, now I’ll explain everything to you) when he’s whistling that catchy song down the hospital hallway. We don’t know why this character does what he does, but we immediately move to the Diagonal Zero Hotel. In the America Room. Three and a half hours before the end of the book. At a convention of coaches where one of them has his head smashed against the ground. has been murdered. It’s a heart attack start.

In these first pages we can already deduce some things: Nacho writes very well, the story has a very high pace, the characters are very anecdotal and we are not facing just another story of murders. We know the latter as soon as we meet the murderer. Because this is the big gauntlet that is thrown at us Strangers under the red moon: You will know who the culprit is from the beginning and you still won’t be able to stop reading.

I want you to read this book and I’m very serious!

An investigation will then begin at the hands of two police officers who share the same name, Tomás, which creates very comical situations. AND The investigation will be carried out in 30 minutes and in a hotel behind closed doors (Do you like closed room cases?). It is a convention on coachinglet’s remember, so the interrogations are also going to be very fun. Strangers under the red moon It allows you to add humor to everything that is happening, without lowering the tone of the events. Meanwhile, the murderer. Because WE ALREADY KNOW WHO THE KILLER IS. He will be living his life inside the hotel, trying to avoid the Tomases, to escape unharmed. Now, why has he ended that man’s life so viciously? What has brought you there?

We have three hours to find out. Los Mossos (Los Tomases) only 30 minutes.

And also the opportunity to learn about the life of the murderer and another mysterious character, Mar, the charming woman of our story. Here come the flashbacks. In order to have the whole puzzle of Strangers under the red moon, Nacho Herrero plays with the past to reconstruct the history of some characters who will be the key to understanding what is happening in that hotel on Diagonal Zero.

And this story will be very emotional. you are going to fall in love under the moon (I suppose you already know the color) and you are going to walk through the streets of a beautiful San Sebastian. I loved the location. I didn’t expect to find one of my favorite cities in this story. All this seasoned with some drugs and alcohol. Because one of our protagonists, I’m sorry to tell you this way, is a camel.

There are some scenes a little uhgwhich cause a certain rejection, since Nacho does uses descriptive scenes even in the unpleasantbut it is at an acceptable reading level. There’s a reason I say that this novel also has that touch of dirty realism for me.

And Tarantino? I could be adapting the script for this novel right now, but above all it has been a reference for me throughout the editorial search that I have worked on with Nacho because His work reminded me a lot of this film director’s films.. I think Nacho is capable of capturing very visual scenes and capturing them on the pages. In my head I have real shots of this story, like in slow motion, with a detail typical of Tarantino. In addition to the strange and eccentric nature of its history, which could well remind us at times of Pulp Fiction or others. But what made me convinced that Quentin and Nacho Herrero could get along was that Strangers under the red moon rewinds itselfit’s like seeing the plot from back to front. Does this sound familiar to you?

I must also mention at the end. An emotional and beautiful ending. With all the sense in the world. Worthy of a crime novel. And, furthermore, it is up to each person’s morals.

Strangers under the red moon of Nacho Herrero It is a crime novel, with a tone of thrillernoir genre and dirty realism. An explosive bomb. It reads very quickly, has very engaging characters and a lot of imagination. It’s one of my favorite books as a literary agent and I hope it ends up being one of yours too. At least, I’m sure you’re going to read something different, that’s completely out of the norm. And that is what I think Nacho, with his writing style, is going to sow. Your most personal brand.