Life in Guatemala is simple for young Davico and his older brother Felipe ... until soldiers invade, and the blackouts begin.Davico lives with his family above La Casita — the Little House — in Guatemala City in the early 1950s. But it's not just a little house. It's also the family restaurant! The restaurant provides plenty of distraction and adventure for Davico and his older brother, Felipe. The mean cook, Augusto, and the always-late waiter, Otto, love to play tricks on Davico. There's a huge oven that Felipe knows how to light — if he can only reach the box of matches above the stove. And don't forget the glass tank of live lobsters — including the king of them all, Genghis Khan, who stares at Davico with round unblinking eyes. Could Genghis Khan climb on the back of the other lobsters and get out of the tank, Davico wonders. Could he move faster on land than in the water? Then one day, Davico hears shooting in...

"Evoking both Kafka and Conrad, Unger's character study of a broken man in a culture broken by a ravenous corporation makes compelling reading."—Booklist"Unger does a great job with fish-out-of-water situations, as [protagonist] Samuel's travails—sometimes Kafkaesque, sometimes Laurel and Hardy—nicely pit his timidity against his growing desperation."—Publishers Weekly"David Unger's tale utterly seduces with its mix of the exotic and the familiar."—Toronto Star“Unger's rendering of human contradiction is masterful, for in the space of Samuel's four days of awe, Unger reveals life's slippery terms of engagement in all their complexity with a clarity that still contains compassion . . . We can be grateful for the message of this wondrous book: despite our fears, even the least heroic among us can find the will to go forward."—Literature and Arts of the...

"This novel by Guatemalan-born Unger (The Price of Escape, 2011) offers a compelling portrait of a country shattered by government corruption, civil war, mass murder, drug cartels, ordinary street crime, inequality, desperate poverty, and even the effects of globalization....The rich but tragic sense of place Unger develops in this intriguing literary thriller will appeal to lovers of international crime fiction."—Booklist"Unger bases his latest novel on the true story of a Guatemalan lawyer who planned his own murder in 2009, fleshing out the story with healthy shots of sex and corruption....The political elements in Unger's story become more gripping through the eyes of his flawed protagonist. He's especially good at subtly shifting the tone of the narrative so that danger signs build up around Guillermo before either he or the reader realizes."—Kirkus Reviews"In The Mastermind, David Unger's compelling...