Danny "Moony" Mora
Created by Manuel Ramos

The violent and noirish Moony's Road To Hell (2002), by Manuel Ramos, introduces Denver-based Chicano private detective DANNY "MOONY" MORA, who gets involved in the investigation of the murder of an INS agent, shot while drinking with the wife of a notorious local smuggler of illegal immigrants.

Like Manuel Ramos' series character, Luis Montez, Danny is something of an aging dinosaur, an idealist haunted by memories of the 1970s glory days of Chicano activism, and like the Montez books, Moony's Road To Hell doesn't shy away from politics or social commentary. But neither apparently detracts from the drive of this well-written tale, which has been getting a lot of buzz.

When he's not writing, Manuel Ramos is an attorney in Denver. A Director of Advocacy for Colorado Legal Services, he also teaches in the Chicano Studies Department at Metropolitan State College, Denver. His first novel, The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz, featuring Luis Montez, was nominated for an Edgar.

UNDER OATH

• "Promoted as a noir thriller, a description it lives up to, Moony's Road to Hell brings to mind the big-screen crime stories of the '40s with their complicated heroes and sinister situations. Yet the references to Chicano causes and culture make it a novel that defies easy comparisons." 
  (The Houston Chronicle)

NOVELS

• Moony's Road To Hell (2002). Buy this book

RELATED LINKS

• Mauuel Ramos
  The author's official website.
  
  
• Rocky Mountain Eyes
  A preliminary list of Colorado sleuths, bounty hunters and other cowboys...

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.