Urgent Matters – Paula Rodriguez
The Yankees are more astute when it comes to matters like these. They say “not guilty”. They don’t say “innocent”. Because as far as innocence goes, no one can make that claim.
A train crashes in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, leaving forty-three people dead. A prayer card of Saint Expeditus, the patron saint of urgent matters, flutters above the wreckage.
Hugo, a criminal on the run for murder, is on the train. He seizes his chance to sneak out of the wreckage unsuspected, abandoning his possessions – and, he hopes, his identity – among bodies mangled beyond all recognition.
As the police descend on the scene, only grizzled Detective Domínguez sees a link between the crash and his murder case. Soon, he’s on Hugo’s tail. But he hasn’t banked on everything from the media to Hugo’s mother-in-law getting in the way.
I received a review copy from the publishers, Pushkin Press, via Netgalley
Urgent Matters opens with a train crash – within the wreckage is Hugo and we get into the story spending time in his company as the considers the carnage around him. Initially trapped within the body of the train there is a period of contemplation and reflection while Hugo waits to be rescued and hauled (through an improbably tight space) back into the Argentinian evening. It’s a fascinating way to begin a story and I was a fan of the way author, Paula Rodriguez, dwelt more on the aftermath of the crash than on the events leading up to the incident.
But Hugo isn’t the only focus for this story and the narrative will flick between him, his mother-in-law (and what a character she is), also Hugo’s partner and their daughter will feature. I used the term “flick” as there is a fast pace to the story and events do rapidly move focus from one player to the next. On one page Hugo may be seen being hauled from a train, then we are with young Evelyn who is trying to hide a mobile phone but next to her mother Marta who is fleeing her home (daughter at her heels) to reunite with the rest of her family while the police want to speak to her about Hugo.
Lots to take in but with a good dose of humour lifting the tension of the respective plights that Marta and Hugo face. While Urgent Matters isn’t the longest book I have read this year it does pack in lots of story and the fast pacing keeps you focused.
The stand out elements of the story was the fabulous character development. All the key players feel like they are pushing their way out of the book into my world. The most fascinating being young Evelyn who is a kid caught up in a frenetic situation which she cannot contribute to. Upsettingly for Evelyn she has her own problems which are causing her a fair amount of distress but she has nobody to confide in and I just wanted someone to take time to help her!
It is always a pleasure to read out of my comfort zone and Urgent Matters took me to new locations and explored different cultures than I am used to reading about. Fascinating and fun in equal measure.
Urgent Matters is published by Pushkin Press and is available in digital and paperback format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BFGCSJGW/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0