Publishers Weekly
06/29/2015
Set in the Philippines in 1997, Batacan's richly detailed and deeply unsettling debut won the Philippine National Book Award in its original short form. In this expanded version, Fr. Gus Saenz, whose skills as a forensic anthropologist with a concentration in forensic pathology are often sought after by the country's National Bureau of Investigation, helps look into the deaths of six boys, all of whom were found in Quezon City's Payatas dump site, where children often pick through garbage to provide for their families. The victims' faces, hearts, and genitals were removed, and Saenz, along with his friend and protégé, Fr. Jerome Lucero, a clinical psychologist, are sure the killer has a very specific agenda. As the priests work to identify the boys and their killer, they must wade through the political muck surrounding a case that no one wants publicized, in a country where centralized crime statistics are unheard of and resources are scarce. Batacan evokes the mountain of garbage at the heart of the story so clearly that readers can almost smell the stench, but it's clear from this gruesome tale that refuse isn't the only thing that's rotten in Manila. Agency: Books@Jacaranda (Philippines). (Aug.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Smaller and Smaller Circles
Winner of the Philippine National Book Award
Winner of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Award
Winner of the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award
“Vivid, shocking, and utterly engrossing. F.H. Batacan’s police procedural with its priest-PI lead opens a fascinating window on the Philippines.”
—Barry Lancet, Barry Award–winning author of Japantown and Tokyo Kill
“A good, old-fashioned serial killer novel set in Quezon City . . . What’s fascinating is the glimpse into a conservative and pious society, full of obstructive officials, both clerical and secular, who are more interested in preserving the status quo than in revealing uncomfortable truths. They, and the killer, are outsmarted by a dogged pair who are a welcome addition to the ranks of ecclesiastical sleuths: forensic anthropologist Father Gus Saenz and psychologist Father Jerome Lucero.”
—The Guardian
“A perfect opportunity for whodunit fans around the world to discover Manila as a setting, but also one for Filipino readers to see the city in a different half-light . . . Smaller and Smaller Circles is now not only the first Filipino crime novel, but also the terrific, treacherous touchstone for all such novels to follow.”
—Inquirer
"Reminds us that truth not only exists at the end of a story, but continuously through the present moment, woven as traces, hints and clues to be grasped at even as they pass."
—The Spectator (UK)
“Saenz is a likeable protagonist, a contemporary Fr Brown, as motivated by compassion as he is by justice . . . A fascinating snapshot of a country still struggling to come to terms with the poverty, corruption and brutality of the Ferdinand Marcos era.”
—The Irish Times
“A masterful, if controversial, work of crime fiction.”
—CNN Philippines
“A serial killer mystery, a study of state and church corruption, and an exploration of political indifference to poverty... There are few better ways to get interested in a region than international mystery fiction.”
—The Week
“[An] outstanding debut . . . Saenz and Lucero take on a politically charged investigation with conscience and compassion.”
—Carole E. Barrowman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Moody, gripping, original, and utterly irresistible . . . A unique and necessary step in the evolution of Philippine fiction."
—Citation for the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award
“Everything in Smaller and Smaller Circles feels claustrophobic, opaque, and dark. Saenz and Lucero, in response, attempt to shine light on corruption and crime. Batacan, similarly, has turned our attention to the shady underbelly of Metro Manila, where the sun only helps increase the stench of trash.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
“Chilling.”
—Dayton Daily News
“Woven in the fast-paced crime story is an exploration of the role of the Catholic Church and the power it wields . . . Dark, gritty, and absorbing as any American noir and shouldn’t be missed.”
—The Strand Magazine
“A gripping crime thriller . . . Batacan harnesses the crime novel’s obsession with death to shed necessary light on the vulnerability, and dignity, of these Filipinos’ lives.”
—Public Books
“Fast-paced and gripping . . . A sobering indictment of the system and an advocacy for a more effective, just, and incorruptible investigative system.”
—GMA News
“Besides providing an ample supply of social commentary, Batacan is also able to deftly weave both narrative action and logical progression in one neat, easily readable novel that also illuminates distinct characteristics required in every work of art: the much-vaunted human condition and the sense of humanity.”
—Business World
“A killer debut, both for Batacan and for Filipino suspense literature . . . A complex and thought provoking novel on every level, one that has left me itching for the sequel!”
—Bruce Tierney, BookPage
“Gut wrenchingly real . . . Batacan has used her powerful first novel as a vehicle not just to entertain, but also to enlighten a wider audience to the poverty and injustice the people from the notorious Payatas district outside Manila suffer.”
—New York Journal of Books
“Not your average hunt-for-the-serial-killer story, but rather a look at how politics, corruption, the church, and the desire for power all get in the way of getting to the truth . . . Batacan has very deftly used the medium of crime fiction to give us her take on what's kept her angry enough to write this book.”
—Crime Segments
“Engrossing, fast-paced.”
—The Independent
“Richly detailed and deeply unsettling . . . Batacan evokes the mountain of garbage at the heart of the story so clearly that readers can almost smell the stench, but it’s clear from this gruesome tale that refuse isn’t the only thing that’s rotten in Manila.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Holmes in holy orders . . . [Batacan] gives an incredible emotional force to an ending that is as artful as it is lurid. Perfect for Baker Streeters looking for an engaging multicultural incarnation of their hero.”
—Booklist
“A well-paced and plotted mystery and an intriguing look at the various social strata of the capital city of the Philippines. The social issues raised by its location in a burgeoning, Catholic 21st-century metropolis are explored in subtle detail.”
—Library Journal
"A dirty, gritty police procedural with a good-guy detective, who also happens to be a Jesuit priest and a forensic anthropologist . . . Satisfyingly paced, and crime-thriller gruesome."
—Time Out Beijing
"Horrifying pleasure . . . The Payatas dumpsite is now given an even more menacing air as the setting for a series of gruesome murders . . . It is the mind of the killer that is the driving force of the story. We are taken into the mind of a psychopath and we realize, with a little shock of pleasure, that we understand just how it thinks."
—Review Circle
"A gripping read . . . A well-orchestrated, compact race against time."
—Philippine Daily Inquirer
"Dark and tightly crafted."
—LitHub
“[Smaller and Smaller Circles] aims higher and wider than a typical whodunit. It takes on the Church, poverty, the country’s infrastructure problems, cronyism, and misogyny.”
—The Common
“[Smaller and Smaller Circles] reaches for big things and gets them. There is no cheap sex, no senseless shootouts, no fountains of blood or car chases . . . Instead the book is a witness to appalling poverty and to the manipulation of the weak by the strong.”
—Reviewing the Evidence
“In Batacan’s hands, these normal elements of crime fiction don’t feel like retreads. Everything fits, the plot and characters are all drawn so well the whole feels very, very real indeed.”
—Pop Culture Nerd
“Batacan develops an engaging and fascinating story from this standard meme by embedding the plot within the post-Marcos Philippine culture and government . . . Highly recommended.”
—Over My Dead Body
“It's good to know that Batacan plans to give us more of these two investigating Jesuits. Their triumphs may not gain full justice in a land where so much is politically impossible—but they have each other's back, and they know what they're called to do, and who is calling them to action.”
—Kingdom Books
Library Journal
05/01/2015
This novel, considered by many to be the first Filipino crime novel, follows two priests as they investigate a series of killings. Father Saenz is a forensic scientist and his colleague Father Lucero is a psychologist. They have been asked by the head of the national police to examine the bodies of several young boys found in one of Manila's enormous garbage dumps. The priests discover the boys were trash pickers, and their deaths had gone unnoticed and unconnected through a combination of willful ignorance ("there are no serial killers in our country") and bureaucratic incompetence. As the two priests race to halt further murders, they face resistance from other agencies as well as those social forces that are satisfied with the status quo. Originally self-published as a novella, this first novel, winner of the Philippine National Book Award, is both a well-paced and plotted mystery and an intriguing look at the various social strata of the capital city of the Philippines. The social issues raised by its location in a burgeoning, Catholic 21st-century metropolis are explored in subtle detail, and a side plot about a pedophile priest is handled tastefully. VERDICT Fans of forensic mysteries as well as readers who enjoy their crime fiction in underexplored settings will want to add this to their reading lists. [See Kristi Chadwick's Mystery Spotlight, "Not Your Usual Suspects," LJ 4/15/15.—Ed.]—Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green
