After the Bombs

This powerful novel by the coauthor of the script for the film El Norte dissects the spirit of a country living through a nightmare. Based on the 1954 bombardment of Guatemala City by U.S. forces, it depicts Maximo, who comes of age in a world of corpse-littered streets, where the police are brigands, order is kept by random executions and the writing of books is a crime. At 13, Maximo falls in love with quirky Karen, daughter of the U.S. ambassador--until a case of mistaken identity leads to a violent, perverse attack on both of them. Against this sordid backdrop, he decides to become a writer--to ``build a cathedral of words''--and tell the story of his people's agony, and attempt to unravel the mystery of his father's long-ago disappearance. He meets the beautiful Amarena, a well-connected prostitute who becomes his lover, confidante and ally. At the lavish funeral of the local CIA chief, Maximo intrudes into the proceedings to read a story he's written exposing the horrors of Guatemala and lampooning U.S. officials. While he tries to escape the ensuing dragnet, Amarena comes to his rescue in an ending that adds a fillip of hope to a brutal, compelling morality tale. Author tour. (Sept.)