Outside the Bones
by Lyn Di Lorio
Not Reviewed: Lack of a review here may mean that the narrative and/or characters of this book did not capture the reviewer's imagination or interest within the first few chapters (or by page 31). It may also mean that, given current time constraints, the reviewer simply chose another crime novel over this one to review. No inference should be made on the merits of this book based it not being reviewed here.
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Acknowledgment: Arte Público Press provided a copy of Outside the Bones for this review.
Location(s) referenced in Outside the Bones: Manhattan, New York City
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Outside the Bones by Lyn Di Lorio
Publisher: Arte Público Press
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-10: 1-55885-703-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-55885-703-2
Publication Date: September 2011
List Price: $16.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): Fina is a big girl with a big mouth. She's the neighborhood bruja, or spirit worker as she likes to call herself, casting spells for her neighbors in Manhattan's Upper West Side. She can't believe it, though, when she puts an accidental fufu or spell on Chico, the irresistible trumpet player who lives upstairs. "With so many scraps of his clothing … sprinkled with blood, gunpowder, sugar, spit, and God knows what else, poor Chico's body didn't know if it was being cursed or blessed."
Chico recovers just as two women from his past turn up: his former beauty-queen lover and an attractive young woman claiming to be his long-dead daughter. Fina is not pleased. So she visits her mentor, Tata Victor Tumba Fuego, Master of Fire. He specializes in Palo Monte, the Afro-Caribbean magical art of controlling and manipulating spirits housed in cauldrons. The Ancient One, the oldest spirit working for Victor, wants a blood sacrifice from Fina, something she has managed to avoid. "We ain't on the island no more, we don't sacrifice in the mountains of Africa or Cuba; we do it in our apartments." But she needs help, so she'll do what it takes. All too soon she finds herself involved with a spirit whose quest for revenge can't be stopped.