Debut novel of mistaken identity
Adebut novel from Kiwi actor-turned-writer Nick Davies sweeps the reader into a dangerous world of Latin-American espionage With no role in sight and nothing to lose, actor Lou Galloway heads to Mexico to drown his sorrows. But after a mezcal too many, he is mistaken for a rogue assassin known as El Flamingo. Before he can escape, he meets Maria-Carla and is swept into the dangerous world of Latin-American espionage. From Mariachi weddings to Colombian salsa bars, Lou has only one choice — to assume the identity of El Flamingo. El Flamingo is at its heart, a sunsetnoir, in which the self-deprecating, soul-searching Lou Galloway takes on what every dreamer longs for — the impossible.
We ask Nick some questions:
Tell us a little bit about the plot of El Flamingo. El Flamingo follows the adventure of Lou Galloway, a disillusioned actor who leaves Los Angeles and heads to Mexico to drown his sorrows in cheap mezcal. But after a round too many, he is mistaken for a rogue assassin known simply as El Flamingo. Before he can make his escape, he meets Maria-Carla, an enigmatic beauty with incredible perfume, and can't bring himself to turn back. He is swept into the dangerous world of Latin American espionage that leaves him only one choice — to adopt the identity of El Flamingo and act one last time . . . and it just might be the role of his life.
I call the novel a sunset-noir. While it maintains certain elements of a mystery-thriller, it is splashed with a little romance and a comedic undertone. Lou Galloway is quite a grounded protagonist, who is nevertheless attuned to the surreal but perilous world he has stumbled into, almost suspecting his existence may well be fictional, which provides a sense of irony. It is essentially the story of a lost dreamer, of an ordinary person taking on the extraordinary.
You are an actor turned writer. How much has your acting career influenced your debut novel? My acting career taught me a lot about character and narrative, and shaped the soul of the novel on a deeper level — acting is a lonesome road of self-doubt and fading dreams which I think is something everyone can relate to in some way.
Many great actors never make it because they were never at the right place at the right time. Some of the best I've ever seen never got close to the silver screen, never got any further than the lonely shadows of a deserted old theatre in some forgotten part of town. Lou Galloway became an imagined version of the lost dreamer, the greatest actor never known, who pulls off the performance of a lifetime and finally finds his purpose in a way in which he never dreamed, far from the glow of any Hollywood lights.
Can you tell us about some of the travel and your research for this book? I wanted to follow the exact route that I imagined the story to take place, to kind of, trace the footsteps of Lou Galloway and where he was heading in this parallel fictional universe. I spent some time in LA, then went down to Colombia and later
Mexico.
A large part of the novel takes place in Cali, a city that has a history plagued with violence but is also the salsa dancing capital of the world which gives it a unique culture. I studied the language, the foods, the music, the culture, the phrases they use and why they use them, the architecture, and attempted to grasp an idea of the societal worldview.
Every scene in the novel is inspired by an authentic setting — the jungle-hidden salsa bar, the Mexican wedding, the coastline mezcal bar, the rural-mountain coffee shop — all are based on real places.
Who will enjoy El Flamingo? Readers who love escapism, who love a read that is adventurous, and thrilling. It is a fast-paced novel that is both plot and character-driven, it's one you can read on a plane, a lonely hotel room, by the fireplace in winter, or on the beach in summer. I hope it provides comfort to those midnight readers of the world, like fiction has always done for me. What is next on the agenda for you? After El Flamingo has launched, I will return to Mexico where I'm completing a journalism and Spanish degree via distance.
I have started to have some journalism and travel writing work published so I will be focusing largely on that, and I will begin chipping away on my second novel soon.