Review: Mozote

Tom Phillips, Mozote (2022)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60709550-mozote?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=YFVltjOHI3&rank=1

This ambitious political thriller with supernatural elements features the human dramas involved when liberation theology preached and practiced by the priests draws down repression from the government.
Father Gabriel Martin, Vatican exorcist, believes it was a galla, a Sumerian demon, that took his wife, the knowledge revealed to him during an exorcism. Also during an exorcism, a demon tells him he will meet Lucifer ‘in Mozote’.
Nicolas Carranza and Jose Garcia, senior officers in the Salvadoran Army, drive up the Cacahuatique volcano to a doorway to the interior. As a young man, Garcia had been down there and sold his soul to a creature called Neti. Once inside, they meet three Argentinians, who issue them a nefarious mission—kill Archbishop Oscar Romero. His work preaching against the government’s repression has drawn attention from the Army.
Alejandra Rivera de Hernandez is prosecutor in the case of Romero’s assassination. She is determined to prosecute all the decision-makers within the death squads, but she gets no help from the Police, as they are complicit. She uncovers a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top of the Army, even including collusion from the US Embassy.
A couple of US nuns face danger delivering food, medicine and supplies to the beleaguered poor. Ale’s son Jose speaks at night to the ghost of his dead sister. Her other son Max’s girlfriend Ana leads a guerrilla mission into the jungle.
In the real world, people are not motivated by demons and exorcisms and do not do evil deeds because they have sold their souls to the devil. Nevertheless, I thought the supernatural element an enticing addition to the story.
Despite the supernatural elements, and despite some misunderstandings about the history of Communism, the portrayal of El Salvador’s death squads is intelligent and believable. This is because a lot of the story is taken from historical events and real people, blending into that fictional characters. For this reason, the cast of characters is enormous, and the events are as complex as real-world events are. Historical backstory is accomplished by citing CIA memoranda, a clever device. In places the exposition is delivered in dialogue, which tends to make dialogue sound unnatural.
This is an excellent novel, and you will also learn a lot about the death squads in El Salvador. I loved the concept of mixing the real and the fictional and the juicy supernatural bits.