Review: 'Nada - Daniel Boyd (Dan Stumpf)

I’m not sure how I missed this novel when it came out in 2010. I’m sure I read the reviews of it on Bill Crider’s blog and Mystery Scene, and I should have picked it up then because it sounds exactly like my kind of book. Plus, the author and I are acquainted on-line. He’s commented here under his real name, Dan Stumpf, and I’ve commented on his book and movie reviews over on Mystery Scene. But even though it took me a while to get around to it, I’m very glad I did because ‘NADA is a terrific book.

It's set in Mexico in 1936. The title does double duty, since “nada” is the Spanish word for nothing, and in this book it’s also the nickname of the small town of Quenada, which is on the other side of the desert from the abandoned Old Pesos Mine. The mine isn’t completely abandoned, however. There’s a caretaker of sorts, Vernon Culley, a World War I veteran turned bootlegger and gangster turned mining engineer. He’s the narrator, and he provides a colorful, distinctive narrative voice that’s a pleasure to read.

One day a truck shows up at the mine. The two men in it are fleeing from a gang of bandits led by the Serrano Brothers, with whom Culley is acquainted. There’s a shootout, one of the men winds up dead, and Culley discovers that the truck is full of gold bars that were entrusted to the Dutchman who was killed in the battle. He was supposed to sell the gold and return the proceeds to some Dutch Jews who fled to America from the Nazis. One of the group is the dead man’s father-in-law. The Dutchman had hired a Mexican/Indian named Ray to drive him and the gold to its destination. Ray and Culley team up to try to carry out the Dutchman’s mission, since they promised the dying man they would.

Of course, it won’t be easy since they’ll have to battle the desert, vicious bandits, and corrupt lawmen along the way. Not to mention their own mercenary impulses and the guilt that haunts Ray . . .

This is the sort of historical adventure yarn that Jack Higgins used to write, although I think ‘NADA is better written than any of the Higgins novels I’ve read. The author gives us a bunch of superb action scenes but also really develops the characters of Culley and Ray as they work together and get to know each other. They discuss books, philosophy, religion, and plenty of other subjects, but even so, Stumpf never lets the action lag for long and the pace is suspenseful and relentless.

This is the first novel that Stumpf wrote as Daniel Boyd, but he’s done several more since then. It's also the first fiction by him that I’ve read, but I’m going to have to remedy that. Meanwhile, I give ‘NADA a very high recommendation. It's available on Amazon in e-book and paperback editions. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year, and I think it’s a lock for my top ten list at the end of the year.