Silver Nitrate

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is among my favorite authors, and I’m always ready for more from her. Today, she releases her latest novel, Silver Nitrate, a horror set in 1990s Mexico City with themes of dangerous magic and sorcery. It’s a slow burn, but with its intricate details and exciting climax, this is another hit in the author’s stellar catalogue.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Summary

Montserrat and Tristán couldn’t be more different, yet they’ve been best friends for the past 30 years. Montserrat is a sound editor who’s been getting fewer and fewer shifts at her job lately; Tristán was a popular soap opera star until a car crash 10 years ago that killed his girlfriend and tarnished his career. Following a recent breakup, Tristán moves to a new apartment building. When he learns that one of his neighbors was a cult horror director named Abel Urueta, he and Montserrat befriend the older man, who proceeds to tell them about the curse surrounding his unfinished last horror film. If the two of them will help him finish the movie, Abel’s curse could finally be lifted. But when Montserrat and Tristán do just that, the side effects are far worse than they were prepared for. Faced with hauntings and evil occult magic, they’ll need to use everything they have to undo this mess. 

Review

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s books are always something to ease into and savor, and Silver Nitrate is no exception. If offers major themes and tons of excitement, though it takes its time in ramping up the adrenaline. It’s a slower pace, and you’ll need patience going into this. In the first chapters, we meet Montserrat and Tristán: friends since childhood, now in their late 30s, and both working (and struggling) in the film industry. Much of the first third of Silver Nitrate relies on conversations the characters have about past events. However, once Montserrat and Tristán get involved with filming scenes to complete an old, unfinished horror film, things start to escalate. From hauntings to murder to dangerous magical canines, this story gets more and more chilling as it continues. By the final third, the novel moves at breakneck speed as seances and evil sorcery culminate for the climax. 

This book is set in 1993, but its origins come from decades earlier, when a Nazi sorcerer, who stole from numerous cultures to form his own evil magic, works with Abel Urueta and others to film a movie that doubles as an elaborate spell. Things go wrong and the movie—and spell—remain unfinished… until Montserrat and Tristán get involved. But despite some early good luck in the wake of completing the film, it all quickly devolves into evil presences in the shadows, murder victims, and an array of new enemies who will use and discard anyone in their way. It will take both Montserrat and Tristán to get out of this mess, and with their differences, they work well together. Montserrat seems more up to the task, but Tristán plays a vital role, too. 

Silver Nitrate follows a dual narrative, focusing on Montserrat and Tristán in turn. They’re such different characters, yet equally compelling. Small but dauntless, Montserrat is tough as nails and incredibly focused no matter how much chaos surrounds her. Tristán may come across as vain and selfish, but he’s charming and is ultimately a loyal friend. I love that Montserrat was always the brave one between them, holding his hand during horror movies and pushing him forward even in the face of real danger. In his own way, Tristán cares for Montserrat, too—usually through cooking more than sustained emotional support.  

Silver Nitrate discusses themes of racism, homophobia, magic, horror films, and the film industry, weaving them all into a magical and thrilling story here. On the perimeter of all of that is a love story between our leads that’s been years in the making. They’re both bisexual and have their own romantic histories, and I think they work perfectly together. The book’s ending is swift and satisfying, both for how the evil is handled and for where our two protagonists ends up.

Final Thoughts

Silver Nitrate unfolds slowly at first, but it is ultimately a sharp and thrilling novel about the evils of dark magic and the racist man who developed it. From horror movies in 20th century Mexico City to two unlikely heroes up against too much, Silver Nitrate left me surprised and delighted.

After reading so much of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s fiction, I have full trust in her ability to deliver an incredible story. Whatever the genre or setting, she consistently crafts stories that are engrossing, thoughtful, and memorable. By this point, I’ve read nearly all of her novels; I only have Signal to Noise and Certain Dark Things to catch up on and I plan to read both before the year is over. I also intend to dive into her extensive catalogue of short stories, starting with her collection, This Strange Way of Dying. Already, I can hardly wait for her next novel, The Seventh Veil of Salome, due out in 2024. Check back here for my reviews of all her works!

Get the Book

You can buy Silver Nitrate here – it’s available as a hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Find an amazing book club kit here – it features discussion questions, a cocktail recipe, horror film recommendations, an accompanying playlist, and even a short story!

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Audience	Adult
Genre	Horror; Thriller
Setting	Mexico
Number of Pages	336
Format I Read	ebook (NetGalley)
Original Publication Date	July 18, 2023

Official Summary

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and Mexican Gothic comes a fabulous meld of Mexican horror movies and Nazi occultism: a dark thriller about the curse that haunts a legendary lost film—and awakens one woman’s hidden powers.

Montserrat has always been overlooked. She’s a talented sound editor, but she’s left out of the boys’ club running the film industry in ’90s Mexico City. And she’s all but invisible to her best friend, Tristán, a charming if faded soap opera star, though she’s been in love with him since childhood.

Then Tristán discovers his new neighbor is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he can change their lives—even if his tale of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy. The magic film was never finished, which is why, Urueta swears, his career vanished overnight. He is cursed.

Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristán to help him shoot the missing scene and lift the curse . . . but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her, and Tristán begins seeing the ghost of his ex-girlfriend.

As they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, Montserrat and Tristán may find that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies.