Fuentes has a background in international politics and a political commitment that, traditionally, few North American writers bring to their work. Moreover, he is the author of the broad-canvas account of the Mexican experience, Where the Air Is Clear (1959), and the brilliant Death of Artemio Cruz (1962), one of the finest Mexican novels of our time. Possibly, there is no other writer who so accurately perceives the Mexican character, as well as the international role that the nation is likely to play in coming decades.

So when he undertakes to write a fictional account of the "first adventure of the Mexican secret service," one cannot fail to take note of his uncommon credentials. In fact, the great merit of The Hydra Head is that Fuentes has raised a popular literary form—the espionage novel—to the level of high art. He has done this through his inspired, always incisive evocation of Mexico on the point of emerging as one of the great oil-producing nations of the world.

The novel deals, quite simply, with a plot to keep the recently discovered and extensive Mexican oil reserves for the Mexicans—away from the encroaching demands of the U.S., and away from economic entanglements with Arab and Israeli oil interests. (pp. 1, 3)

A powerful reality occupies the center of The Hydra Head: the discovery of the Mexican petroleum fields at about the time of the Arab oil embargo is factual….

But, as in most of Fuentes' work, there is also much artifice. He is a tireless experimenter with narrative techniques and points of view. We discover, for example, after some 100 pages that the seemingly omniscient narrator of Maldonado's story is, in fact, his chief, Timon, who has "reconstructed" the information reported to him by his agent. This tends to strain credibility, and the breaking point is approached when we are told that the last seven chapters are Timon's conjectures regarding what Maldonado will probably do when he finally realizes how he has been used. It really seems an unnecessary gimmick.

Also, I'm puzzled over one matter. Why does Maldonado return to play his role, under a new identity, in the planned presidential assassination on September 31? I am aware that Fuentes has stated that his narrators reserve the right to leave certain questions unanswered, certain ambiguities unresolved. Well, if that's a part of the game, so be it.

Characteristically there are many things "going on" in a Fuentes novel. The Hydra Head is dedicated to the memory of four actors who specialized in espionage film roles—Conrad Veidt, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains and we recognize all of them in characters Fuentes has created here. There are fond echoes of Chandler and Ambler, too, and what might be the first "hard-boiled" Mexican dialogue….

All in all, it's a dazzling performance—one of the most successful books of Fuentes' 25-year career. (p. 3)