Book Excerpt for the Night

    He sits down.  There's a stiff sheet of calligraphied parchment lying on the table.  He leans forward to peer at it with interest.  A shadow appears across an archway, and he looks up to see the Ancient Mayan.

    (T)his is a guy you identify immediately.  Feathered head-dress, jaguarskin kilt, silky black pageboy bob.  Hooked nose and high cheekbones.  A sad and sneering countenance, appropriate on a member of a long-vanished empire.  Is this the end for the Spanish Jesuit?

    No, because the Ancient Mayan bows so his green plumes curl and bounce forward, and he inquires:

    "How may I serve the Son of Heaven?"

    The Jesuit looks down at the parchment.

    "Well, the Margarita Grande looks pretty good.  On the rocks, with salt, okay?  And make that two.  I'm expecting a friend."


(from Sky Coyote by Kage Baker)


6*/10.  The full review is here.