My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Soho Press for an advanced copy of this tough noir thriller about family, regrets and the violence that people do.

The sins of a father have a habit of carrying over to the children, effecting not only a family, and a community but the future of many, many people. And when the father in question is a cocaine loving murderous monster who other criminals tells stories of his atrocities like ghost stories told around campfires, that is a lot of sins to attest to. Cruz is a vicious little novel, written by Nicolás Ferraro, translated by Mallory N. Craig- Kuhn, that tells the story of two brothers and the cycle of violence they never seem able to escape.

Tomás remembers the night they finally took his father to prison, for murder, the amount of men it took and the flashing lights. The list that his father's right hand man presented to his older brother about tasks that still had to be done, killing enemies being most prominent. Tomás swore that he would never get involved, studying to be a doctor, studying to be something other than his father's son. Until his brother was caught with a massive amount of drugs, and suddenly the crimes of his brother suddenly become his. Tomás is tasked with finishing his brother's work, with the price being Tomás' sister-in-law and niece. Tomás know wonders if he has enough of his father in him to do what has to be done.

A story of family, violence and even more violence. The world of Cruz is nasty, grim and full of evil. The only bright spots being Tomás' niece and his girlfriend who he tries to keep as far away as possible from this whirlpool of darkness. Tomás is an interesting character, with a lot of depth and an ability to find that rage that is his father's legacy. The rest of the characters really shine, each has quirks and ways that Ferraro presents them that they never seem cartoon, or just presented to die, but have lives and interests that we don't know. The story is brutal, especially in its treatment of women. Really brutal. The violence is never over the top even though it includes weapons from fists, knives guns, and home improvement tools. The writing is quite good, a mix of both poetry and noir, that makes the story move along, and again makes you care what is happening to these characters.

Ferraro is making a name for himself in the noir market in Argentina, in fact Cruz was a finalist for the Dashiell Hammet Award for Best Crime Novel. And it shows. This is a very assured novel, without any missteps about bad people, doing bad things, but with a real flair in the writing. Perfect Pulp. For fans of Don Winslow, Edward Bunker, Andrew Vachss and Jean- Claude Izzo.