In this gritty noir novel set in Denver, Colorado, Gus Corral finds himself caught up in the murder of an old high-school buddy he hadnt seen in yearsuntil days before his death. When cops and gangsters start circling, Gus is forced to start an investigation of his own. The plot in this "mile high noir" unfolds in a reasonably straight-forward manner until about the two-thirds mark, at which point the path forward becomes a little more twisted, adding several layers of complexity, all to the better. Relatively short at just 180 pages, it's an appropriate length for what turns out to be a really good crime novel. Our rating: 4 of 5 stars. Mysterious Reviews It's grand having Manuel Ramos mystery novels back in play. The master of chicana/chicano noir hasn't lost a step in the hiatus between 2013's Desperado and 2003's Brown on Brown, with a pitstop in 2010 for the nostalgia-driven King of the Chicanos . Ramos uses a deft hand to juggle the novel's two murders, the murder of Artie Baca and the metaphorical murder of the lost and ruined homeland. ... Desperado: A Mile High Noir is a lot of fun to read, plus it leaves you weighing how one person's change is another's decay. Michael Sedano for La Bloga Money, sex and greed figure prominently in the story but so do class tensions, barrio culture and a multicultural milieu. Ramos handles all of these elements with a deft hand that keeps the story moving. -- Michael Nava, author of the Henry Rios mystery series. Manuel Ramos is the recipient of several literary awards and the author of numerous novels, including King of the Chicanos (Wings Press, 2010), Brown-on-Brown: A Luis Montez Mystery (University of New Mexico Press, 2003) and The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz (St. Martin's Press, 1993; Northwestern University Press, 2004), and Edgar Award finalist. He lives and works in Denver, Colorado.