Sánchez (Spanish, Portland State University) analyzes the works of Mexican crime novelists and filmmakers from the 1940s to the present as a commentary on political attitudes and post-revolutionary myth. He begins with the creation of the myth of a unified Mexico forged from the violent deaths of its revolutionary leaders. He then discusses how writers such as Rudolfo Usigli, Juan Bastillo Oro, Rafael Bernal, Carlos Fuentes and Paco Ignacio Taibo II write from the edges of society to show the disintegration of the myth and the breakdown of the government sponsored move to "modernity." Sánchez supports his arguments with representations from art and parallels between the novel and film plots and Mexico in the twentieth century. The theme of a violently patriarchal government losing control of its monopoly on violence is one that becomes more prevalent in the novels. The conclusion brings together new viewpoints on both Mexican art and national identity. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)