Author: Restrepo, Laura.
Publisher: Alfaguara
Pages:208
Who kills the executioner? That’s the dizzying question at the heart of this novel. Abismo is a cruel god, ruling over life and death with merciless whim. Under his command works Misericordia Dagger—a methodical, unyielding executioner who has never questioned his duty. Until now. His loyalty is shaken when he falls in love with the granddaughter of his next target. This novel is a striking parody of our turbulent times, reflecting the madness of authoritarian, irrational, and criminal rulers. A tragicomedy of universal resonance, it stages a theater of recurring eras of terror—signs, perhaps, of ultimate chaos or the birth of a new world. Our protagonist, a headsman with disarmingly human traits, narrates his own ordeals in a voice that channels the energy of a graphic novel. The result: a bold, genre-defying tale that inaugurates a new literary form—brutal noir—blending history and myth, reality and delirium. Misericordia Dagger is an unforgettable figure, locked in a deadly dance with his adolescent apprentice, the volatile and hyperviolent Prince Blood. He wishes to pass on his deadly craft—and his beloved blade, as sharp as hunger and as unpredictable as a woman. Branded into his back is the legendary image of the enigmatic Acephale. “Do not summon Acephale. He will come only when he wishes. He will appear, and we shall believe.”