Collateral Man (Best Latino Thrillers Series) - Softcover

Ferrara, Alex; Levy, Jose

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9874365633 ISBN 13: 9789874365637

Publisher: Grafica Andina, 2004

Synopsis

Martin Mondragon refuses to comply when Joe Sagasti, a representative of the devil, demands his soul in payment of a debt incurred by his grandfather, and embarks on a struggle to defeat the forces of evil.

About this title

About the Author

Alex Ferrara was born and educated in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a certified and literary English-Spanish-French translator and holds a degree in Chinese Studies from Universidad del Salvador. She taught Chinese Philosophy and Literature at Universidad Maimónides until 1994, when she decided to make a living out of writing. Three years later she graduated as a film director and scriptwriter. Her latest screenplay, Apasionados became the 2002 top Argentine blockbuster. She won the Julio Cortázar Literary Award twice for her short stories Wanda and Las Cajas and a certificate of merit for her original screenplay Hildegard at the 2001 International Screenplay Competition of the American Screenwriters Association and Writer´s Digest. Collateral Man is her first novel. A mother of two daughters, at present she divides her time between Buenos Aires and Madrid.

José M. Levy was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied at the School of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires. In 1997, he produced the miniseries El Garante, which won four Martín Fierro awards, a Fund-TV, and three International Broadcasting awards, as well as international recognition, including nominations for an International EMMY, the New York Film & TV festival, and the MIDIA in Spain. A year later, he produced La Condena de Gabriel Doyle and other pilots for television. Levy is the creator of several sitcom and comedy projects, which include Agencia Matrimonial, Barrio Privado, Agarráte Catalina, and Gloria y Tango. He’s currently developing a novel based on the story of Agencia Matrimonial and writing a screenplay for a feature film. Levy also has experience in Internet marketing and the US Hispanic market. He is a frequent speaker on these subjects at national and international conferences and seminars, such as Book Expo ! America, PMA Publishing University, and Folio Magazine Conference. Since 1987, he has founded and participates in several successful companies, including one of the most important Latin American book and magazine publishing houses, MP Ediciones, and KMP, a TV and Film production company. He is the father of three children and lives in Buenos Aires.

Candy Davis, the Editor of Collateral Man, is best known for her edgy fiction dealing with complex and sensitive themes. A number of her short stories have appeared in prestigious literary anthologies. She writes award-winning novels and screenplays, two of which have been sold and one produced. She is also a freelance humor columnist, author of magazine articles on alternative health, and a popular speaker on the conference circuit. She finds great satisfaction in helping other writers achieve success in the publishing world.

From the Inside Flap

By Candy Davis -EDITOR- This intriguing story based on the timeless theme of good versus evil, has not only survived, but triumphed on a journey of its own from TV miniseries, to mainstream novel originally in English, to Spanish translation. Alex Ferrara, the writer, a well-published award winner in short story and screenplay format, poured herself into the project with undaunted enthusiasm, tenacity, and creativity. I watched her overcome enormous obstacles in adapting producer Jose Levy's gripping story from the original eight-part script that captivated Argentine TV audiences. Alex's unbounded talent and fresh writing voice has teamed well with Jose's dedication to perfection and tireless determination, to produce a book for our times about the value of a man's soul. Alex and Jose made the wise choice of basing their book on the old Faust tale, a timeless story that never fails to grip the reader despite its numerous retellings. Alex and Jose took on the challenge of giving Faust a fresh twist that would make it relevant to today's readers. Both authors have a deep understanding of story structure, and clung to the heart of the tale in which the nobility of the soul rises above temptation and proves its strength. It gives the reader hope to see Martin, with no special powers, defeat an age-old menace with no more sophisticated tool than the nimbleness of his mind. I believe the story lends us all a little more strength to resist when modern life offers us comfort in return for our humanity.

Reviews

Based on a popular Argentinian television miniseries (and modeled on the Faust legend), this smart, cheeky thriller begins when a Manhattan psychotherapist learns that his soul is the price to pay off an old family debt. Martin Mondragon is an accomplished, erudite therapist whose chief problems are dealing with his eccentric clients and recovering from a breakup with a gorgeous model. But Mondragon's life goes completely haywire when he is approached by a stranger named Joe Sagasti, who informs him that his Argentinian grandfather reneged on a deal after signing his soul over to the devil, making Mondragon the so-called "collateral man" who must pay off the debt. Mondragon dismisses Sagasti as deranged until the stranger begins using his dark supernatural powers to wreak havoc on Mondragon and those around him. The hokey conceit might have produced a cartoonish novel in the hands of lesser writers, but the authors' flair for light irony and razor-sharp storytelling keeps the tale fun and fast-moving. The plotting gets a bit busy in the closing chapters, but the payoff is an entertaining showdown between Mondragon and Sagasti. Despite its unlikely provenance, this is a devilishly satisfying entertainment.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Grafica Andina
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9874365633
• ISBN 13: 9789874365637
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336