This post was most recently updated on March 22nd, 2016
Publisher: Guernica Editions; 1st edition (April 30, 2013)
Category: Literary Fiction, Adventure, Suspense
Tour Date: September, 2013
ISBN: 978-1550716870
Available in: Print & pdf, 200Pages
Argentina, 1979. Life has gone stale on Jim, an expat working in Catamarca. Everything is predictable until he meets Lisa. She has the starry eyes, the sensuous lips, and the tango steps that make all rational assumptions go away. Jim gives her top marks for animation but there is a flashing beacon at the end of his tip sheet: Danger. Lisa is a little too intense, a little too crazy, a woman with too many scenes playing in her head.
That doesn’t faze Santos, a curandero looking for a medium to channel the spirits of the dead and attract his lost sister. He lures Lisa to his compound in northern Argentina, where she becomes a pawn in a deadly family feud. Jim goes in search of Lisa. Tracking her down turns into a double mission — delivering Lisa from her captors and himself from the confining routine of his life.
It takes a fantastic journey through rugged back country for Jim to realize how much he loves Lisa. The story unfolds against the background of a country in the grip of a military junta. It is a place where kidnapping, violence, and death no longer make headlines, a place where you learn survival skills.
Praise for Head Games:
“An author with a powerful imagination. A complex plot that takes us to Argentina in the late seventies with compelling characters even though you often feel like beating some common sense into the heroine. Many ironic remarks indirectly criticizing our modern time that make you smile. A good read, beautifully written.”-J. Ragache C.T., Amazon.com Reviewer
“Identity’s a big theme in this work, so if you’ve ever felt you were someone other than yourself, if you thought you might like to try living in someone else’s skin, if you’ve wondered whether your friends and loved ones were not exactly who they claimed to be, then this psychological labyrinth might just be your winding road to a good read”.- Carole Giangrande, Words to Go
Having read Rummel’s “Playing Naomi” I couldn’t wait to get hold of her next novel. And I wasn’t disappointed – as one often is with second works. What a fertile imagination she has to dream up.
As before, Rummel offers some quirky characters, lovingly sketched, and twists and turns in the plot that kept my interest throughout. I love her sense of humour, her wonderful irony. And the way she makes you enter the head (games) of the heroine. The three men are wacky and interesting too. The trip to Argentina you can take for free!
The novel is beautifully written. A joy to read. Can’t wait for the next one!! Keep writing.”- Katarina, Amazon.ca Reviewer
Praise for Playing Naomi:
“Suspenseful & riveting. What a wonderful debut novel! Once I started reading, I simply couldn’t put it down. I want a sequel! This imaginative story about role playing is not just about the protagonist (Liz) impersonating an eccentric author (Naomi), but touches on broader issues about what can happen while we play roles.
What I found particularly fascinating and unique about Playing Naomi was how Rummel interrupts her narrative with excerpts from Naomi’s (fictive) novel.
This novel within the novel provides a suspenseful and compelling backdrop to Liz’s story.
Rummel’s psychological insights, fine sense of irony, quirky characters, fluid style, and ability to create and keep the suspense make this a riveting read.”- Carina, Amazon.com Reviewer
“Playing Naomi is a tightly woven novel with great descriptive passages and a gripping story. I really felt for Liz when she is confronted by one of Naomi’s old friends without warning, while impersonating Naomi. It explores the complexities of taking on someone else’s life while trying to live your own, against a back drop of reviving the past in order to make peace with it. It was a quick read, but the characters and story stayed with me.”- N. McIntosh, Amazon.com Reviewer
About Erika Rummel:
Erika Rummel was awarded a Random House Creative Writing Award in 2011. She is the author of more than a dozen non-fiction books (social history, biography, translation) and two novels, Playing Naomi (2009) and Head Games (2013).
Erika came to Canada from Vienna and obtained a doctorate from the University of Toronto. She divides her time between Toronto and Los Angeles, but has also lived in small villages in Argentina, Romania, and Bulgaria.
Playing Naomi has been praised as a wry comedy “reminiscent of the corrosive but jovial cynicism of media satires like The Larry Saunders Show and The Newsroom” (Cynthia Sugars in University of Toronto Quarterly).
Erika Rummel’s Website:: www.erikarummel.com
Erika Rummel’s Blog: www.rummelsincrediblestories.blogspot.com
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