Prime-time

John Andueza

Elkar, 2014

John Andueza (Oregon, USA, 1966) debuted in adult literature with the novel Prime-Time. In addition to a writer, he has worked in film, as a television host, journalist, director and actor. It can be said, therefore, that this intrigue novel that we have at our fingertips is the result of its hybrid trajectory.

The treatment of intrigue takes on great importance in the construction of the novel. It seems to me that a double plot is created because it has been drawn up on two different levels. On the one hand, the intrigue of the plot that has to solve the case of chained crimes, the essence of the police novel. And on the other hand, the plot about the story of the two characters, more sociological, that approaches the black novel. I mean, the intrigue of the plot of tragedy that the characters are living today. The two plots will be found in the Prime-Time, the time when the most audience will be held.

Bala and Clemente were expelled from the Ertzaintza after committing a serious error in Operation Irrintzi, where two Ertzainas were arrested. In addition to a tremendous blow, we realize from the beginning that it has left a traumatic mark on the relationship between the two. Today, by chance, they work as private detectives under the shadow of the legendary San Mamés.

A call shakes the lives of Bala and Clemente. Police official investigators will call for a re-investigation of the suicide case, an important presence of the media world that appeared dead in the Getxo peñas. Bala and Klement receive this call as a challenge to be able to clean their image. Once and for all, they have an unbeatable opportunity to pay the debt contracted with the trade. Things will become more complicated as deaths increase.

As the plot of the case progresses, the story of the relationship between the two characters recedes over time. As the past unfolds, Bala and Clemente will become increasingly naked. They are two other victims of life.

The element of surprise is present throughout the novel. There is clear evidence that the elements that may denounce the culprit are not necessarily hidden. But despite the suspicion of the culprit, Andueza has demonstrated his ability to twist history to turn surprise into the axis of the novel.