The relics of Saint Lawrence

"... _The Relics of Saint Lawrence_ is a brilliantly crafted noir, steeped in the heavy, languid atmosphere of northern Mexico, with strong characters and suspense that builds gradually, not through fast-paced narration but through the chilling realism of its characters..."

"...This book could be a crime story employing the familiar twin trope. It could be a chronicle of Mexican provincial culture through a dark family saga. It could be a labyrinth in the style of Borges, where the supernatural meets reality at every turn. It could be the journey of two people towards redemption. It is all of these things and more. A puzzle which, once the pieces are put together, will reveal other puzzles awaiting their solution. A book not only of many but of multiple readings."

– Panagiotis Hatzigiannakis, Ta Nea

"Drawing on the mythological and fairy-tale traditions of one’s homeland, as well as research into the lives of the working classes in Ireland in the case of Hanna Kent, and the psychoanalytic components of the twins’ idiosyncratic development, for Vicente Alfonso, the two authors construct a fictional universe tinged with the shades of a medieval-style obscurantism, in order to highlight all the paradoxes of human faith, guilt and metaphysical expectation, centred on the central premise that man is willing to believe anything rather than believe the truth, as well as on the assumption that, in the context of our interaction with the world, we all have an innate tendency to invent people we do not understand."

"...Alfonso, however, masterfully manages to keep the knot of anxiety in your stomach tight, whilst at the same time placing the reader in a constant dilemma: to decide for themselves what the story is. Which truth suits me? And ultimately, as a reader, you enter into the game of multiple identities."

"...The _Relics of Saint Lawrence_, with its noir aesthetic, its unrelenting action in both the present and the past, the superstitions of Northern Mexico and the literary references, is a text that captivates the reader and confirms precisely what its opening sentence promises: ‘Reality is one. Its interpretations, many.’ It is, without a doubt, yet another brilliant example of the new Latin American school that continues to impress."

"...The author Vicente Alfonso, drawing on the teachings and conversations of many ‘Saints’ who taught him ‘the secrets of the narrative tailor’, faithful to the tradition established by Borges, joins the ranks of authors of multi-voiced works with his labyrinthine, multifaceted narrative, where nothing and no one possesses the whole truth and everyone claims a small share of the whole, and while all these parts make up the whole, they do not constitute the truth."

"...Almost twenty years later, I am enjoying a similar novel, this time by a contemporary Mexican author. Of course, the concept is neither new nor rare in literature; but the clues that mislead the reader, the constant and subversive quest for verisimilitude, and the countervailing struggle to discern what lies behind the ‘appearance’ of things require a story that is suitable, one that lends itself to diverse perspectives and can be broken down into pieces like a jigsaw puzzle, which, among other things, presents a different picture depending on the angle from which it is viewed. And skilful writing is required; here, both are achieved."

"...Vicente Alfonso’s book, yet another outstanding example of the Latin American school, was much more than a simple detective novel to keep you company on grey days. The _Relics of Saint Lawrence_ is something quite different. After all, ‘Reality is one. Its interpretations are infinite’, as the book itself says."

"...The entire novel is an exercise in the art of storytelling, a reflection of language itself upon itself, which is undermined with every turn of the page. The depth and breadth of this self-referentiality throw into disarray any attempt to classify *The Relics of Saint Lawrence* within a specific literary genre."

"..._The Remains of Saint Lawrence_ is a novel that plays subtly with time and the reader’s mind. Some details only become clear days later, as you mull them over. Others never do. It is a game, not only with the narrative but also with the multiple reflections of reality. And food for thought for those who write and read..."