Procession of the Dead by Darren Shaw

Procession of the Dead by Darren Shaw

Procession of the Dead is a surreal novel of strange criminality set in a fictional version of Mexico City. A young man is introduced to the underworld and becomes a puppet of The Cardinal, who runs the city. People surrounding the Cardinal start disappearing, as if they had never existed. A strange and flawless killer begins stalking the young man, and he has a few weird sexual encounters. Then stuff gets a good bit stranger and more metaphysical.

Procession of the Dead was a strange, corruption-flavored snack, which I quite enjoyed over a few nights on the beaches of South Texas. Had I not followed it so quickly with the far more masterfully done Shadow of the Wind, I would probably have more glowing words for Procession. A fine book, but not overly memorable.