Hello everyone! There is a chill in the air and Halloween is just around the corner as I post this. I’m not planning on doing anything crazy since it is on a Tuesday. I’m probably going to make some chili (the perfect fall food) and watch a horror movie. Our neighborhood doesn’t have a ton of trick-or-treaters. That doesn’t mean I don’t still revel in the overall atmosphere of Halloween. I have a few more horror novels that will roll over into November along with some other exciting reads coming up. Let me not chatter on and on. Let’s discuss the newest released from Silvia Moreno – Garcia: Silver Nitrate.
Content Warning: Disturbing Imagery, Graphic Bodily Injury, Harsh Language, Graphic Deaths
Montserrat has struggled with her career as a sound editor. Despite her talent, the movie industry is dominated by men who are quick to dismiss her in favor of her male co-workers. It’s the ’90s and the Mexican film industry is run by powerful men who want quantity over quality. The only person who recognizes her talent is her childhood best friend, Tristan who is trying to revive his acting career after facing several scandals. One day, Tristan meets Abel Urueta who is a legendary cult film director whose career mysteriously came to a halt. Abel tells Montserrat and Tristan about a dangerous Nazi cult leader who believed that the silver nitrate used in film reels was the ideal element to use in his attempts to become immortal. The film that Abel started making with this man was never finished and he is convinced that he has been cursed ever since. The director asks Montserrat and Tristan to help him finish the film in order to lift the curse. As they help him, the two begin to find themselves being visited by ghosts of the past. Montserrat and Tristan begin to dig deeper into the world of the occult and find themselves facing a greater danger than they could have ever imagined.
To preface: this is now the fifth book I have reviewed by Silvia Morena – Garcia so it is safe to say I’m a fan. I was immediately intrigued by this being a horror novel set in the ’90s. This novel was a little slow to start but once it got going, it was hard to put down. Silver Nitrate combines classic staples of occult horror with an interesting look at the dark side of the film industry. Even though this novel was mostly a thriller, it delivered on the horror elements with plenty of gruesome details and high stakes. I liked the relationship between Montserrat and Tristan as it helped make the story feel all the more personal. Silvia Moreno-Garcia does a great job balancing out the fantastical elements of her novels with the personal relationships at the heart of it all. Overall, this novel has only further solidified my status as a fan of Silvia Moreno – Garcia and I would recommend reading this or any of her other novels.