Review: Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

 

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and Mexican Gothic comes a fabulous meld of Mexican horror movies and Nazi occultism: a dark thriller about the curse that haunts a legendary lost film--and awakens one woman's hidden powers.

Montserrat has always been overlooked. She’s a talented sound editor, but she’s left out of the boys’ club running the film industry in ’90s Mexico City. And she’s all but invisible to her best friend, Tristán, a charming if faded soap opera star, though she’s been in love with him since childhood.

Then Tristán discovers his new neighbor is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he can change their lives—even if his tale of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy. The magic film was never finished, which is why, Urueta swears, his career vanished overnight. He is cursed.

Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristán to help him shoot the missing scene and lift the curse . . . but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her, and Tristán begins seeing the ghost of his ex-girlfriend.

As they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, Montserrat and Tristán may find that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies.

My Review

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is a bit of a slow burn at the beginning, as we're introduced to Montserrat and Tristan. But after they complete the unfinished spell from the film things begin to pick up. It was really hard to put down after this.

Montserrat is a talented sound engineer, who's being slowly pushed out at work. Tristan is a fading soap opera star. Friends since childhood they share a love for horror movies. So when cult horror director Abel Urueta moves into Tristan's building who regales them with stories from his past specifically about the film he never finished.

Soon Urueta is asking them to help him finish the film. He thinks if they finish the final scene the curse will be lifted.

Abel has a premonition about what time he'll die, Montserrat senses a dark presence, and Tristan is seeing the ghost of his of his ex-girlfriend.

Montserrat begins to dig into the occultist who helped with a specific scene in the movie.

Thank you so much to the author, Random House/Ballantine, and NetGalley for this ARC to review.

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