THE SHAMSHINE BLIND

Reviewed by Steven H Silver

Paz Pardo's debut novel, The Shamshine Blind is an alternate history mystery set in Daly City, California in a world in which the United States was overthrown as a superpower following an Argentine victory over the British in the Malvinas in the 1980s. Argentina's success also ushered in the age of psychopigments, the use of colors to chemically induce emotions and behaviors in people who come into contact with them. The novel opens with detective Kay Curtida working on a case concerning the appearance of a new pigment when she is called out to investigate a man who has fallen from a window to his death.

Curtida and her partner, a rookie named Tommy, who has a tie to someone who was present when the man fell to his death begin their investigation, only to find that things aren't going s smoothly as they would like and they find themselves removed from the higher profile case, even though it is clear to the reader that the cases will ultimately tie together. The book follows their investigations, revealing more about the world that has emerged from Argentina's continued deployment of psychopigments as well as the specifics of the case Kay and Tommy are working on.

As with many other alternate histories, The Shamshine Blind is a mystery. This allows Pardo to reveal information to the reader slowly, both relating to the solution of the mystery as its multiple layers unfold, and the history of her world as it branched off from ours in the 1980s and continued to diverge over the ensuing years. Furthermore, not only does her psychopigment technology cause differences to our worlds, but the divergence also provides the motives for her characters, whether they are the conspirators or Curtida and the other forces of law who are trying to head the conspiracy off.

One of the problems with high-concept novels is that the author needs to make an idea which is unique and unconventional understandable to the reader. The failure to do so, whether because the author doesn't have a clear understanding of the concept or because they don't provide an adequate explanation, can lead to a novel which may present interesting ideas, but ultimately doesn't fully hold together. In The Shamshine Blind, Pardo clearly has worked out the details of her psycho pigments, but throws so many terms and concepts at the reader they can be difficult to keep straight. Nevertheless, as the novel progresses, the use and abuse of pigments becomes clearer and is a driving force of the narrative.

Even as Curtida wraps up her investigation, Pardo continues to expand her world, giving the reader the understanding that the events in Daly City, are not only tied to the larger world and the politics of this world, but are also only a small part of what is happening and that the implications of the conspiracy and Curtida's resolution will continue beyond the confines of the novel.

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