SOUTH BY SOUTH BRONX, by Abraham Rodriguez

(originally posted on March 22, 2008)

Not only is this an exhilarating ride through Bronx neighborhoods not normally depicted in contemporary fiction, but Rodriguez shines in portraying the vagaries of the writing and artistic life, the seedy underbelly of would-be criminals on the make and the deafening roar of the subway as it careens through all five boroughs and back again. SOUTH BY SOUTH BRONX plays some devilish tricks upon mystery conventions and I, for one, was very glad to be played.