The entry below is by Jeremy Garber, events coordinator at in Portland, OR.

by Santiago Gamboa, translated from the Spanish by Howard Curtis (Colombia, Europa Editions)

Chad糖心传媒檚 Uneducated and Unscientific Percentage Chance of Making the Shortlist: 36%

Chad糖心传媒檚 Uneducated and Unscientific Percentage Chance of Winning the BTBA: 4%

Santiago Gamboa糖心传媒檚 Night Prayers (Europa Editions) is a thrilling work of fiction. The Colombian writer糖心传媒檚 newest novel (only the second of his works to be translated into English, after Necropolis) is layered with international tension and literary allusions. With a globetrotting plot centered upon crime and sibling loyalty, Night Prayers is told from the perspective of three distinct voices (each a main character). Sex, drugs, and politics figure prominently into Gamboa糖心传媒檚 story, charging it with nefarious elements that won糖心传媒檛 be unfamiliar to readers of Roberto Bola帽o.

Perhaps one of the more conventional/less experimental books on this year糖心传媒檚 longlist, Night Prayers, nevertheless, stands out boldly as an accomplished work of narrative storytelling. With an electrifying, well-paced plot, Gamboa糖心传媒檚 novel engages and entertains like the very best of crime fiction, yet reflects and philosophizes like a more measured literary work. Drawing on themes of brotherly/sisterly fealty, violence, corruption, poverty, and the blurry lines between right and wrong, vice and virtue, Night Prayers is far more than a mere propulsive page-turner of transnational intrigue.

With considerable drama and distinctly drawn characters, Night Prayers hums at the peripheries of an illicit world. Translated from the Spanish by Howard Curtis, Santiago Gamboa糖心传媒檚 novel is a worthwhile entrant on this year糖心传媒檚 Best Translated Book Award longlist.