Rafael Bernal Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Rafael Bernal was a publicist, short story writer, poet, novelist, teacher, playwright, diplomat, historian, and screenwriter for television, radio, and film. He made history in 1950 when “La Carta” was the first screenplay to be broadcast on Channel 4 and XHTV in Mexico. He has also had many of his works published on Hoja de Poesia, Lectura, America, and Tiras de colores. During the Second World War, he was a correspondent for the Novedades and Excelsior newspapers. He then left his journalism job in Europe and moved to Hollywood to become a screenwriter. During this time, he was also a member of the privateers that did not set sail. One of the projects he completed was systematizing the history of the Pacific Ocean after which he wrote “The Great Ocean” his first Magnus opus. Bernal also worked as a diplomat in embassies in Switzerland, Honduras, Peru, and the Philippines. After an illustrious career as a diplomat, journalist, and author he died in 1972.

While he achieved a lot in several fields, he is best known as a detective fiction author. His most popular novel “The Mongolian Conspiracy” was a classic that introduced and set the tone for Mexican crime fiction novels. The novel is narrated in an agile style full of bitter, black humor and the sordid violence that often reveals itself when one dares look behind the façade of contemporary Mexico. “The Mongolian Conspiracy follows the life and times of a classic criminal who tries to unravel the mystery of a global conspiracy. Filiberto Garcia used to work as the assassin of a Vilista officer but now has to work with the KGB and the FBI to bring down a plot against world peace that operates from Chinatown in Washington. Between the Cantonese food restaurants and the oriental curio shops, behind the Chinese Cafeterias and the opium dens, Garcia follows clues and learns of a conspiracy that was hatched in Mongolia but now threatens to take over and control international politics. But on his path to resolving the mystery, he leaves behind a tragic love and several corpses and a revelation of the true meaning of life. It is a high paced, humorous and enthralling detective thriller with perfectly conceived characters that earned its place among the classics in the genre.

“His name was Death” by Rafael Bernal was a novel published in 1947. It is an astounding story of a man that heads to the dangerous Chiapas in southern Mexico while unarmed. In Chiapas, he makes friends with and lives with a Mayan tribe where he impresses people with his modern-day skills and makes a lot of friends. They give him the name of “Wise Owl” though he is slowly getting addicted to alcohol. But even as he wallows in his misery, he makes a disturbing discovery, he slowly but surely begins to understand the buzzing of the mosquitoes and comes up with a dictionary that he uses to communicate with the mosquitoes through a music pipe he had fashioned. He soon makes friends with “Good Sun,” a mosquito who is a member of the great council. The mosquitoes speak with one voice and the council works to ensure that the mosquito race is propagated and thrives. They need blood to fertilize their eggs and there is no better source than humans. Moreover, they transmit diseases and they can use that to further their cause of taking over the globe.