Smaller and Smaller Circles (Soho Crime)

Loved this book, had a similar feel to Thomas Harris' books in the Silence of the Lambs series. Similarly applies psychology as well as sociological perspective to the phenomenon of serial killing. Also noteworthy that it was originally published in 1996 and courageously deals with abuse of children and its cover up in the Catholic Church before the bulk of the reporting on how widespread this issue would become after the Boston Globe's Spotlight coverage of the Boston sex abuse scandal.The book is engrossing and beautifully written. There is a movie that's also very good, but would recommend you read the book first as there are some things that aren't covered in the movie you would miss out on by watching it before reading. I ended up buying Gina Apostol's Insurrecto sight unseen just based on the fact that Batucan wrote a blurb for it (was not let down on that one either).Would love to see more from Batucan of any sort, but another installment in the forensic pathologist/priest/detective duo of Fathers Lucero and Saenz especially much.

Just finished _Smaller and Smaller Circles_ by F.H. Batacan about two Filipino Catholic Priests investigating a series of murders which took place in a huge dump/landfill are here. The novel is a critique of the Catholic Church, corruption in the local and national police departments, and the level of vulnerability that poor people experience believing that they have no advocates in the government or law enforcement. Although murder mysteries aren’t normally my jam, I found it to be a quick read and was interested in learning more about Filipino culture and recognized the places and some Tagalog words which I appreciated even though the story itself is very dark and unsettling.

This is a glimpse into another culture, but a spot on depiction of human nature and how experiences impact behavior. I would have given 5 stars for a well told mystery with clearly written characters , but the editing was at times jarring and interfered with the flow of the story for me. In reading the end notes, I realized that this was a re-written story in 2013, from an original in 1996. That would account for some distractions such as cell phones, which were not in common use in 1996. I want to know more about these characters, their backstories and history (where did Father Jerome's limp come from, more about both his and Father Saenz's families, their vocation story and choice of profession. I hope to see more from this author and get to know more about these characters.

Yes, this is a dark story because of the murders of these "throw-away" boys. But the love from the two priests trying to help the incompetent police comes through loud and clear.Ms. Batacan's understanding of police work and crime scene investigation is extensive, which only makes the book that much more believable.My guess is that Batacan has fictionalized an actual serial killer's murders as she makes the reader understand how two priests who wouldn't give up forced the police to keep looking for the murderer even after they had already pinned the murders on someone else.This novel made me appreciate the Catholic clergy serving low-income communities all over the world even more than I did before. (I wrote about a few in my own novel.It never occurred to me how well educated and well trained these men and women of the cloth had to be by the time they got to the country they were going to serve. I assume these priests were from Spain, but nowhere is it said outright.Wherever these priests are from, I ma just glad to know there are people like them in the world: people who won't give up on the oppressed and downtrodden even when the rest of the world has long forgotten their struggle.Thank you, Ms. Batacan, for telling us this beautiful love story, the love between two priests and a people that no one else seems to care about. Excellent work, all the way around!

This was a good, quick read. I’m new to crime mysteries so I can’t judge this within the genre, but it held my interest throughout. I would have liked for the author to have brought me into the location more deeply. There were a lot of good snapshots of local life, but I would have liked more depth. I appreciated the compassion and the point of view of the priest struggling in a system that is letting him down. Perhaps if there are subsequent books we will learn more about the characters and their world. I wanted more depth.

As someone new to the Philippines, I found the mystery at the center of this book to be interesting made more so by the little tastes of culture that are sprinkled throughout. You get a sense of the food people eat and especially a varied sense of how the Catholic Church is viewed. I highly recommend it.

There’s no sugar-coating the fact the Philippines, my dear Pearl of the Orient, is a very corrupt country – made more so by the oligarchy and plutocracy of families in power.In Patayas, where smoking mountains of trash rise to the sky, young boys are killed. But no one bothers to spend more than a glance at the records, except for a resilient few: two Jesuit priests, Father Gus Saenz and Father Jerome Lucero, the journalist Joanna Bonifacio, NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) Director Lastimosa, and Anding Rustia.The boys are from impoverished families; the issue isn’t sensationalized. Hardly any of those in the elite are worried. But Father Gus thinks this might be the work of a serial killer, a concept nearly alien to the Filipino community. After all, aren’t serial killers only in the West? Or places with sophisticated medical practices and suave-looking villains?The characters are real, tough, and inspiring. They definitely deserve to appear in another case just as harrowing and deadly as this one. Anyone who loves a good mystery and a portrayal of a different kind of life rarely presented on TV should definitely read “Smaller and Smaller Circles.” It’s a great crime fiction novel that I wish would be followed by a series led by Fr. Saenz and his unwavering sense of justice.

I don't know why this book received very good reviews. I only bought this because I heard they were going to make a film based on this book and I was curious. The plot was OK. But what jarred to me was the use of the present tense all throughout - it was tolerable at first, but about quarter through the book, I found myself getting annoyed by this type of writing style.

I didn't quite get how the priests became detectives but that's OK. I liked the author's decision to bring in her take on corruption in the Philippines and how it's always the poor that suffer most when society's institutions fail to do their job.

A bit ordinary for my taste despite the exotic location and the central characters, 2 priests. Not very subversive. Straight forward serial killer fare.

An interesting thriller, and insight into a different culture

Great plot and characters. What I really enjoyed was the setting, told by someone who is understandably torn by love and hate of it.