Amidst stagings of guerilla warfare, rumors of killer bees and
encroaching cartel activity, recovering ex-rocker, Tony Góngora,
attempts to solve the mystery of an American scuba-diver's murder. As he
tries to piece together the events of the crime, Tony uncovers his own
bizarre and illuminating memories: of a fatherless childhood spent in
the high-risk company of his eccentric friend and the hotel's manager;
playing gigs with The Velvet Underground; joining a Japanese pop group.
Against the backdrop of a deteriorating climate, a fast-eroding
beachfront, official corruption, cartel violence, and delusional Western
escapism, Tony and an international cast of hotel staffers make and
break alliances as the personal begins to echo the political, and
artifice and reality start to blur. With his signature wit, originality,
and dashes of dazzling social theory, Villoro has created a biting
satire of tourism and a brilliant analogy for Mexico's unique position
in global politics.