Final Silence

A psychological drama borne in the aftermath of civil war

A successful psychologist helping victims of torture gives up his comfortable life in the US to return to his homeland of Guatemala

On the eve of a peace deal after 30 years of civil war he finds himself treating a battle-hardened military torturer desperate to absolve himself for his heinous crimes… yet well versed in psychological warfare.

Final Silence is a compelling drama that explores the emotional wounds caused by torture that blighted a generation.

For the psychologist who fled civil war, the welcome anguish of homecoming scrapes open old emotional wounds. For the general who measures success by the bodycount, the violent transformation from conciliation to reconciliation cuts deep into his psyche

Through the quest for reconciliation takes an unexpected turn as conflict remains just below the surface.

This was Flores' first novel and won the prestigious Mario Monteforte Toledo literary prize open to writers in Central America.

This is the first novel to deal with the aftermath of Guatemala's civil war, and one of the first about that conflict translated into English.

“Último silencio is a highly intelligent novel that announced the arrival of an important new protagonist on Guatemala's literary scene.” - Latin American Review of Books

“There is no improvising here - the author narrates well and directs with skilful technical solvency. The result is a powerful work of undoubted contemporary originality.” - Jury, Mario Montefore Toledo Prize, 1999

• Read a review in the Latin American Review of Books

Ronald Flores
(1973-) is the most well know of a generation of authors that grew up amid the debris of Guatemala's civil war. He gained a master's degree in comparative literature at University of Texas, Austin, and was a Fulbright scholar. He has published three other novels, essays and short stories, and works as a journalist in Guatemala.