[3] Set in Lima in the 1990s during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori, the editor of the notorious tabloid Exposed, Rolando Garro, is found beaten and stabbed to death and his body left outside a gambling parlor.

The novel's title, Cinco esquinas, refers to an area in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of the Lima District, where the story is set.

"[5] Publishers Weekly gave the novel a rave review, calling it a "audacious and skillful" and comparing it to Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice.

[6] Boyd Tonkin, writing for the Financial Times, largely praised the novel and saying it "pulses along with a zest and cunning not commonly found among octogenarian Nobel laureates" as well as calling it "punchily translated by the ever-excellent Edith Grossman.

"[7] Anthony Quinn of The Guardian felt the novel "never achieves a truly compulsive rhythm" and criticized Edith Grossman's translation for "tripping up" the reading experience.