New Book by Author Rudy Ruiz to Be Released in September 2022

Valley of Shadows will be the San Antonio Author's Third Book

SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest book from San Antonio-based author Rudy Ruiz, Valley of Shadows, is set to be released on September 20th, 2022.

In his latest book, Ruiz follows Solitario Cisneros, the sheriff of Mexican town Olvido. After a shift in the Rio Grande River, Cisneros finds himself and his town on the US side of the border, forcing him to hang up his badge. What follows is a new kind of Western that incorporates magical realism, mystery, and horror in a historical fiction story that explores isolation, injustice, and suffering along the US-Mexico border, themes that are still pertinent today.

"Ruiz's engaging tale, peppered generously with Spanish words and smoldering with racial tension and classism, is immersive and atmospheric and features an interesting cast of characters with rich backstories. Ruiz deftly combines elements of romance, historical mystery, horror, and magical realism to deliver a richly satisfying adventure." - Booklist (starred review)

The book is a new direction for Ruiz, who tends to write literary fiction and magical realism. "A lot of the elements of it have been floating around in my mind for many, many years because of its setting on the border and its historical context of US-Mexico relations and the long, fraught history of those relations between the two countries and the cultures. In that sense, I feel like it's been germinating my whole life," he said when speaking about the origin of the book. "But what really sparked me to write this particular kind of novel, which is unique, was strangely, my son, who's a teenager. He actually asked me, 'Dad, would you write a Western horror story?' I've been writing a very long time and I've never written a Western, and I've never written a horror story, but it freed me. I found it liberating."

Valley of Shadows is Ruiz's third book of fiction. His previous works include the novel The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez and a collection of short stories titled Seven for the Revolution.

Rudy Ruiz grew up in Brownsville, Texas. He attended Harvard University, where he received a Bachelor's in Government and a Master's in Public Policy. While there, he also studied literature and creative writing and he received a Ford Foundation grant to support his writing career. His first fiction book was a collection of short stories titled Seven for the Revolution. His second fiction book, a novel titled The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez, was published in 2020. His first novel won two Gold Medals at the 2021 International Latino Book Awards and was named in the Top 10 Best First Novels of 2020 by the American Library Association's Booklist. In addition to being an author, Ruiz is a contributor to CNN and other major media outlets, and is the CEO and co-founder of Interlex, an advocacy marketing agency that focuses on social issues. Ruiz currently lives in San Antonio with his wife and their two children.

Media Contact:
Angelle Barbazon 
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SOURCE Rudy Ruiz