City of Whispering Stone

"Persepolis, like a city of whispering stone, spoke to me of many things: I was a stranger in a totally alien culture, a very long way from home, lonely, homesick and very much afraid of dying without ever again seeing any face I loved." - Mongo, on his first visit to the ruins of Persepolis (which was destroyed by Alexander the Great during his conquest of Persia) Four passages refer back to the events of SHADOW OF A BROKEN MAN: - when someone accuses Mongo of knowing nothing about torture - when Mongo asks Garth for help - twice when Military Intelligence people turn up Unfortunately, the mystery of the previous book is completely given away by this book, so you really ought to read SHADOW first. Otherwise, this book serves as a better introduction to the characters than does SHADOW OF A BROKEN MAN. Mongo's opening thoughts in this book are of his circus performer past, and how for him as a dwarf the price of being taken seriously has always been to give a good performance. Even now that he's put himself through grad school and become a criminology professor at New York University, and has a private investigator's license on the side, his past never quite goes away; his old boss, Phil Statler, turns up with a request for help. Statler Brothers Circus is missing one of its performers, Khorzad, an Iranian strongman who has become a star. If he's in trouble, Phil wants to help him, but if not, Phil wants him found so he can be sued for breach of contract. Phil appears in other early Mongo stories, particularly the short pieces in THE HOUSE OF SECRET ENEMIES, then takes a long hiatus until THE FEAR IN YESTERDAY'S RINGS brings him back with a vengeance. But of course, in a way, Mongo's past is always with him, if only in his acrobatic skills and the education his circus career financed. CITY came out not long before the fall of the Shah, and deals with Iran as it was then. If you're unfamiliar with pre-1979 Iran, be warned that Chesbro doesn't gloss over the police state aspects of the country, and the Shah isn't a particularly good guy as painted here. Part 1 is set in New York City, while Part 2 is in Iran. Apart from the missing Khorzad, Iranian characters living in the US whom Mongo and his brother Garth (an NYC cop) encounter include the Iranian student organization at NYU; Darius, a colleague of Mongo's who is a political exile; and Garth's current girlfriend. CITY is unusually "literary" and very polished as a novel, not just a mystery, reminding me of the saying that an author's first book is often his best, in which he says the most of what he has to say. Mongo's personal demons and insecurities are explored, as in later books, but Garth's are featured as well (something we don't see again until THE COLD SMELL OF SACRED STONE). Chesbro uses symbolism in CITY in a way that supports rather than distracts from the story. Mongo and Garth encounter a number of revolutionary characters who care deeply about the power of symbols, including PR