Every Arc Bends Its Radian

Readers will want to strap in tight as De La Pava (Lost Empress) takes them on a wild, turbulent ride with a likable narrator, Rivilerto “Riv” del Rio, who is both a private eye and a philosophical poet. Escaping New York City after the untimely death of his partner, Jane, he finds himself on a quest. A family friend, Carlotta, wants Riv to locate her daughter Angelica, who has disappeared. Riv’s investigations lead him to Exeter Mondragon, an expert criminal who rightly calls himself “pure evil.” This mystery tale turns into something else as Riv’s prolonged conversation with Mondragon turns to the breakthrough technology of supra hominin cognition (SHC.) SHC combines a human body with an all-knowing computational brain. The narrative plummets, alongside Riv, to the ocean floor in a tiny submersible as the novel draws to an end.