Atticus: Novel, A

Ron Hansen has written an appealing and surprisingly non-formulaic detective novel set in Mexico. I enjoyed his frequent use of literary allusions and short, familiar phrases from Atticus's Spanish tourguide handbook.

I’ve read a number of his historical fiction books and enjoyed them. This was kind of a step off the beaten path, and was not a bad way to spend some harsh winter nights. Truthfully I liked the other stuff better..

This award-winning, positively-reviewed novel features a prodigal son, wasting his life in a world populated by losers in Mexico, and a long-suffering father who goes down to retrieve the body, after the son supposedly offs himself.There are wonderful long descriptive sentences, which must have charmed those who gave this tale rave reviews. There’s a plot twist resolved two-thirds of the way through. Unfortunately, the characters are unbelievable, all the Mexicans are treated superficially, the son has no redeeming qualities, and the character of the father is seemingly abandoned by the author half-way through the novel.Comparing this Atticus to Harper Lee’s is not justified. Only the name is the same.

Unique mystery with unexpected great twist. Great use of setting -- expats in Mexico.

Lots of twists and turns and it does keep your interest. You have to have tolerance for a flaky character