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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780060577698
ISBN number: 006057769X
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: April 01, 2007
Publishing house: Harper
Release Date: March 27, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 442964
Studio: Harper
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Product Description:
Deep in the jungles of Colombia, an American priest is shot dead in his makeshift church.
A few weeks later an Indian shaman arrives in South Florida, armed only with a bag of totems and the fearsome power of his vengeful god.
As a Miami Homicide Detective, Jimmy Paz saw terrible things that defied rationality. Now retired, he's put the darkness behind him. But suddenly he, his wife, and their young daughter are being haunted by horrific dreams—terrifying visions of a giant jungle cat. And when affluent Miami businessmen begin dying gruesomely in their fortress-like homes—with the footprints of a massive animal found at the crime scenes—the baffled police must turn to Paz, who has experience with the impossible. Paz cannot refuse, for he's tied to this case by a shocking secret from his past. And what he loves most may be the subsequent thing devoured in this nightmare of carnage and sacrifice.
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Rated by buyers 
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Nobody has done a better job of bringing the "lost" supernatural dimension of primitive folk magic and religion into the modern mystery/thriller world than Michael Gruber. He has a deep and sympathetic understanding of what we secular Westerners might regard as "alternative belief systems," and he manages to seamlessly juxtapose witchcraft, Santeria, etc., with utterly plausible crime and violence plotlines. Additionally, few authors in the thriller genre can match Gruber's ability to flesh out characters -- even bit players -- in three dimensions. By now it's well-known that Gruber is the ghostwriter responsible for the very first 13 crime novels "authored" by his cousin, Robert K. Tanenbaum, which are among the very best of the genre. I will read anything he writes.
Rated by buyers -
Night of the Jaguar is smooth and fast and consistently entertaining. In this review I want to take special note of Jonathan Davis' audio performance.
I have heard more than a hundred audiobooks. It is a distinct art form. Davis is the best reader I have ever heard. Each character in the large cast has a clearly identifiable speaking voice, precisely appropriate to age, gender, background, and ethnic origin. The voices never bleed into the narration, nor vice versa. Even sound effects - in this case, the menacing breathy growl of the Jaguar - are perfect.
Congratulations to Michael Gruber for a fine, intelligent supernatural mystery, and to Jonathan Davis for a performance that captures it in living color.
Rated by buyers -
The lines of reality become blurred in this latest addition to Michael Gruber's series of thrillers with Cuban detective Jimmy Paz.
Jimmy Paz is happy with his decision to leave the Miami PD and work in his mother's restaurant, more time to spend with his doctor wife and his precocious 7 year old daughter Amelia. He is not readily willing to be drawn into his ex-partner's newest case when Cuba businessmen are murdered. But when the dreams of he and his family about a jaguar begin to eerily parallel the rumors that a large cat is responsible for the deaths, he becomes immersed in solving the crimes.
Moie has hidden in the hold of a ship to Miami from his jungle to confront the people he has been told are trying to destroy his rainforest home. Soon after he lands he meets up with Jennifer and her group of activists, The Forest People. All of a sudden saving the rainforest is more than just a vague cause. And when Paz realizes Moie is tracking his daughter Amelia and worships the jaguar, Moie is more than just an interesting curiosity.
This the third book in Gruber's trilogy with Jimmy Paz. While the story of Moie and the jaguar is intense, it is Paz's struggle to try to reconcile between his doctor wife's firm insistence on reality only and his mother's Santeria beliefs that makes the story take hold. Jimmy's willingness to put aside his previous differences with his mother, even after learning her shocking secret, to protect his daughter from an unseen, unbelievable enemy makes the story take heart.
This thriller's strength is its main characters that are convincing, even within the paranormal plot line. While the added plots lines of greed, misuse of the earth and the plight of foster children tangle themselves through out the novel, it is the characterizations that keep the story from unraveling.
Rated by buyers -
What makes this book different from lots of others in this genre is the extremely well-drawn characters and their distinctive world views. Jenny is a particularly engaging character as she slowly begins to appreciate the fact that she's smarter and tougher than she ever thought she was. By the way, another reviewer commented on Paz's wife suddenly being named "Lola"... but in "Valley of Bones", this was a nickname Paz called her which has obviously stuck now that they're several years married.
Can't wait for this writer's subsequent book.
Rated by buyers -
When I was a little boy, journeying through grey and white TV, Marvel comics, and how come Mom didn't wear high heels and stockings when she made me and Dad breakfast like Mrs. Cleaver, I also wanted to know when Clark Kent became Superman, where did he leave his 2 piece summer suit from Barney's? Shouldn't this have been an issue the screenwriters should have seen coming and explained to the viewing public? This was not a solid basis in which to develop a yearning for supernatural works of fiction. I can handle the ghost of Hamlet's father. I have trouble with small men transmorphing into 500 pound predators.
OK. I'm having a little fun here and this is an excellent novel. You just need time to read it. It's not an airplane read, maybe not even a vacation read. Like LeCarre, Mr. Gruber demands of his readers an intention to work at what he is saying.
Jimmy Paz remains one of the best characters around. He reminds me of Lorenzo Brown. the 'Dogman' of George Pelecanos fame. I especially like where Gruber has transformed him from a rakish Cuban detective in Miami with an edge to a loving father. The relationship he shares with his 7-year old daughter is warm and affectionate.
I enjoyed Tropic and Valley of Bones tremendously and this falls short of those earlier works. I also enjoyed Lorna, Jimmy's wife in earlier works with her hypochondria and weight issues, however here there is virtually no Lorna. Paz' Mom is a hoot. And the new characters of Jenny and Cooksey are fascinating, odd and enjoyable.
I guess Night didn't "grab" me. I didn't feel compelled to keep reading it. I'll give you an example. We reviewers use this phrase but I believe it probably doesn't really happen but maybe one in ten times. This past weekend I picked up Robert Crais' new work, The Two Minute Rule. I literally could not put it down. All books can't have that quality but I didn't find any of that in Night of the Jaguar. Interesting? Yes. Worthwhile? Yes. Magnetic, riveting and relentless? No. I'll certainly read Mr. Gruber again however Night wasn't up to the standards he set for himself. 4 stars. Larry Scantlebury
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