The Mongolian Conspiracy

Mexico City–born novelist, playwright, and poet Rafael Bernal is best known for his detective fiction. The Mongolian Conspiracy, the most popular of his works, follows Filiberto García, a cantankerous hired gun tasked with uncovering an alleged plot to assassinate both the American and Mexican presidents. García's investigation leads him throughout the Mexican capital, chasing leads into Chinatown, working together with American and Russian counterparts, and encountering a host of shady, enigmatic characters that more often than not end up losing their lives. As García nears revelations that will unravel the plot, a love interest steals his heart, and his frustrations of having to deal with others boil over.

The Mongolian Conspiracy is an enthralling, high-paced, and frequently funny crime/detective thriller. Filiberto, despite his ornery nature, is a fantastically conceived character, perhaps as memorable as any other in the genre. Bernal's tale, described by novelist Francisco Goldman as "The best fucking novel ever written about Mexico City," is a lively, memorable romp through international intrigue and the dark recesses of the Mexico City underground. Recommended By Jeremy G., Powells.com

Only a couple of days before the state visit of the President of the United States, Filiberto García — an impeccably groomed "gun for hire," ex-Mexican revolutionary, and classic anti-hero — is recruited by the Mexican police to discover how much truth there might be to KGB and FBI reports of a Chinese-Mongolian plot to assassinate the Soviet and American presidents during the unveiling of a statue.

García kills various bad guys as he searches for clues in the opium dens, curio shops, and Cantonese restaurants of Mexico City’s Chinatown — clues that appear to point not to Mongolia, but to Cuba. Yet as the bodies pile up, he begins to find traces of slimy political dealings: are local gears grinding away in these machinations of an "international incident"? Pulsating behind the smokescreen of this classic noir are fierce curses, a shockingly innocent affair, smoldering dialog, and unforgettable riffs about the meaning of life, the Mexican Revolution, women, and the best gun to use for close-range killing.

A gripping and hilarious 1960s Mexico City noir.

Rafael Bernal (1915-1972) was the author of many novels and plays. El Complot Mongol (1969) is regarded as his masterpiece.

Katherine Silver is an award-winning literary translator and the co-director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre (BILTC).

Francisco Goldman, the author of five novels, one book of nonfiction, won the Prix Femina for his latest, Say Her Name.