Without Mercy - Pedro Feijoo

Despite their different backgrounds, Teo and Gordo have been friends since they were at school. Teo’s father is head of neurosurgery at the local hospital and wants his son to follow in his footsteps. Gordo’s father is a drunk, a wastrel. Gordo leaves school early and takes an apprenticeship at the local repair shop, while Teo is sent by his ambitious father to further his studies for a year in the United States. However, there is a girl in the picture. Teo is not prepared to stay behind for her, but he does abandon his studies early to return to her. The only trouble is she won’t speak to him for some reason. Teo is convinced she is offended and goes to discuss the matter with Gordo. The two of them ‘borrow’ the garage owner’s Dodge Charger, a collector’s item, from the back yard and head out on a road trip, a journey without return, a desire to live in the moment, a paean to ecstasy. The only trouble is they have the police on their tail, Inspector Blanco and his men. Not to mention the local mafia, who are a little upset about an outstanding bill. The question is how long can they can keep going on a single tank of petrol? And have the two of them, such good friends, been entirely honest with each other? Pedro Feijoo is one of the outstanding novelists of his generation. He is the author of six novels to date, five of which have been translated from Galician into Spanish. He has twice received the San Clemente Prize, a prize administered and awarded by high school students in Galicia, a position he shares with the Spanish writer Javier Cercas and the Irish novelist Colm Tóibín. Without Mercy is his first novel to be translated into English. Jonathan Dunne has translated more than sixty books from the Bulgarian, Catalan, Galician and Spanish languages. His translations have been nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award and the Warwick Prize for Writing among others. He has written several books on the English language, the latest of which, Stones Of Ithaca (2019), looks at language and the environment.