A riveting family drama set in the world of Mexico City’s cartels.
In Vasquez’s crime novel, a young woman is determined to escape her family’s criminal empire, but instead finds herself running it.
Sofia De Luna has always known that her family’s wealth and prestige didn’t come from the produce business her late mother owned, but she’s horrified when she learns that her father is putting her in control of the family’s extensive drug trafficking. When her mother was murdered 12 years ago, Sofia, then in her midteens, vowed to separate herself from them forever, and she eventually left Mexico City far behind for a new life in London. For the past eight years, she’s been far away from the cartels and the violence—and far from Andres Herrera, her first love, who broke her heart. Now she’s forced to contend with her brothers (who can’t forgive her for abandoning them), with family members who’d like to strip her of her newfound power, and with Andres, who may also be responsible for her mother’s murder. Vasquez’s page-turner is both an emotional family drama and a tense thriller. Sofia is a sympathetic protagonist, and readers will hope that she can use her family’s power for good. The author deftly paints a picture of a narco-state that’s intertwined with drug cartels who terrorize the people but also provide a measure of economic stability. Vasquez also offers vibrant descriptions of Mexican history and culture: “This complex, beautiful land of mountains and beaches and jungles and deserts had more to offer the world than drugs and violence.” But the novel also refuses to allow readers any illusions about how easy Sofia’s dreams for her country would be to accomplish. Indeed, a feeling of heartbreaking futility permeates the novel as Sofia navigates national and family politics. Flashbacks to Sofia’s mother’s early life enrich the story with the beginnings of the family’s empire and also show how small choices can echo for generations. A strong supporting cast adds depth, and gripping moments of violence and romance will leave readers wanting more.
A riveting family drama set in the world of Mexico City’s cartels.Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2024
ISBN: 9781684632787
Page Count: 376
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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