{"id":5276,"date":"2015-06-11T18:32:20","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T22:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5276"},"modified":"2024-01-22T19:32:02","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T00:32:02","slug":"salsa-nocturna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5276","title":{"rendered":"Salsa Nocturna"},"content":{"rendered":"

Salsa Nocturna<\/a><\/em> (2012) Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This is a collection of intertwined short stories. It doesn’t seem quite so at the beginning, but they are are all more than just set in the same world. The characters are ghosts and ghost hunters and those who can see the dead, and with each story you learn a little more about the world in which these characters live. Which is our world, only with hidden ghosts.<\/p>\n

Checking on a possible link to a phantom pachyderm.\u201d I feel stupid saying that, but it sounds better than \u2018ghost elephant.\u2019
\n…
\n\u201cMammuthus primigenius,\u201d says the doctor.
\n\u201cYou tangled with a wooly motherfucking mammoth,\u201d Riley translates.
\nI order three shots of rum.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think my favorite character just might be Gordo.<\/p>\n

I show up at 9 p.m. on the dot, because Janey said my sloppy Cuban time won\u2019t cut it here so just pretend I\u2019m supposed to be there at 8 and I\u2019ll be alright. And it works.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I also found it very amusing.<\/p>\n

This part of Harlem\u2019s mostly white now. Homeless black guys wander aimlessly, pretending they didn\u2019t get the memo to clear the fuck out. Cops wear vindicated grins as they stroll triumphantly up and down the quiet, sunshiny blocks. Comfortable young white people flutter around in sandals and shorts, doing little chores, heading to outdoor cafes, staying casually but carefully within the designated borders of their territory.
\n\u201cMalcolm X Towers?\u201d Riley scoffs. \u201cLuxury apartments? Are you serious?\u201d We\u2019re standing at the foot of a monstrous glass fortress on Fifth Ave.
\n\u201cYou know ghost Malcolm\u2019s ready to fuck a tower up,\u201d I say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

OK, so there were things that, even after running them through the translator, didn’t make much sense to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet the fuck out of the way you scrawny hipsters!\u201d Riley screams out the window. \u201cTell \u2018em, Gordo, I don\u2019t think they heard me.\u201d
\n\u201c\u00a1Comiendo mierda y gastando zapatos!\u201d Gordo yells.
\nRiley eyes him suspiciously. \u201cDid you say what I said?\u201d \u201cBasically,\u201d Gordo chuckles.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The internet tells me that translates as “Eating shit and spending shoes” and is part of a chant akin to Eeny meeny miney moe.<\/p>\n

Which is amusing in and of itself, but still odd.<\/p>\n

And some interesting thoughtful bits dropped here and there.<\/p>\n

(A) scar isn\u2019t about the injury, it\u2019s about the healing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you’re looking for something new to try, I highly recommend this. The stories are good, and stand by themselves, but are also nicely tied together.
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Crossed Genres Publications<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Salsa Nocturna (2012) Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older This is a collection of intertwined short stories. It doesn’t seem quite so at the beginning, but they are are all more than just set in the same world. The characters are ghosts and ghost hunters and those who can see the dead, and with each story you learn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,18,2,48,44,35,16,34,20],"tags":[139,138,737,140],"class_list":["post-5276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-anthology","category-fantasy","category-female","category-hispanic","category-short-story","category-supernatural","category-urban-fantasy","category-young-adult","tag-bone-street-rumba","tag-daniel-jose-older","tag-ghosts","tag-shadowshaper-cypher"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1n6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8735,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/8735","url_meta":{"origin":5276,"position":0},"title":"Battle Hill Bolero","author":"Michelle","date":"February 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Battle Hill Bolero (2017) Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older This is the sequel to both Midnight Taxi Tango and Salsa Nocturna. You don't have to have read Salsa Nocturna for this, but you really really should. Events have come to a head, and Riley and Cyrus and many other ghosts are in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Battle-Hill-Bolero.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11743,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11743","url_meta":{"origin":5276,"position":1},"title":"Salsa Nocturna: Stories, Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"March 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Salsa Nocturna: Stories, Audio Edition (2012\/2014) Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older, narrated by Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older This is a collection of stories set in his Bone Street Rumba world. \u201cTenderfoot\u201d published in The Innsmouth Free Press (2011) \u201cSalsa Nocturna\u201d published in Strange Horizons (2010) \u201cSkin Like Porcelain Death\u201d \u201cThe Collector\u201d published in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Salsa_Nocturna.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11786,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11786","url_meta":{"origin":5276,"position":2},"title":"Half-Resurrection Blues, Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"March 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Half-Resurrection Blues, Audio Edition (2015) Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older narrated by Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older After re-listening to Salsa Nocturna, I figured that Half-Resurrection Blues should be up next. (A)nother little guy is definitely Indian\/ Pakistani or maybe Puerto Rican. Or half-black. Whatever he is, he gets randomly searched every time he\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Half-Resurrection-Blues-e1511016825401.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6225,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6225","url_meta":{"origin":5276,"position":3},"title":"Salsa Nocturna, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Salsa Nocturna, Audible Version (2012\/2014) Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older, read by the author As with his Bone Street Rumba novels, Daniel Jose Older reads his own work, and it's totally great! This short story collection was published before Half-Resurrection Blues and features not just Carlos and Riley, but one of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"salsa_nocturna","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Salsa_Nocturna.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24922,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24922","url_meta":{"origin":5276,"position":4},"title":"Salsa Nocturna, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"September 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Salsa Nocturna, Audiobook (2012) Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older narrated by Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older (Bone Street Rumba #2.5) Nothing marginalizes marginalized people like a dead white guy talking sympathetically. A child\u2019s excitement is its own force of nature. \u2018Simp\u00e1tico\u2019 is the best word for him. It means \u2018nice\u2019 in English, but nice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Salsa Nocturna","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Salsa_Nocturna-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8965,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/8965","url_meta":{"origin":5276,"position":5},"title":"Salsa Nocturna: A Bone Street Rumba Collection","author":"Michelle","date":"March 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Salsa Nocturna: A Bone Street Rumba Collection (2012) Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older I was feeling out of sorts and unsure what I was in the mood to read, so I decided to re-read Salsa Nocturna since I knew I'd enjoy it. \u201cTenderfoot\u201d published in The Innsmouth Free Press (2011) \u201cSalsa Nocturna\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Salsa_Nocturna.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}