Author: Deborah Clearman
Year Published: 2020
Category: Adult fiction
Pages: 210
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location (my 2020 Google Reading map): Guatemala, Mexico, USA
FTC Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book by the author and TLC Tours for a fair review
Summary (from the inside flap of the book): Fernando Granados is a university professor in financial trouble when a boyhood friend he hasn’t seen in thirty years reenters his life. Memo Galindo, now part of a notorious Mexican cartel, soon persuades Fernando to build a meth lab on his country property, just outside the ancient town of Remedios. Fernando’s strong-willed wife Sandra and their beloved 18-year-old son Félix each fall under Memo’s charismatic spell. The cascading family crisis plays out on a larger stage, from its roots in Guatemala’s civil war in the ’80s to corruption in the Guatemalan army and American DEA, in a country where even the forces of nature wreak vengeance.
FTC Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book by the author and TLC Tours for a fair review
Summary (from the inside flap of the book): Fernando Granados is a university professor in financial trouble when a boyhood friend he hasn’t seen in thirty years reenters his life. Memo Galindo, now part of a notorious Mexican cartel, soon persuades Fernando to build a meth lab on his country property, just outside the ancient town of Remedios. Fernando’s strong-willed wife Sandra and their beloved 18-year-old son Félix each fall under Memo’s charismatic spell. The cascading family crisis plays out on a larger stage, from its roots in Guatemala’s civil war in the ’80s to corruption in the Guatemalan army and American DEA, in a country where even the forces of nature wreak vengeance.
Review: I wasn't really sure what to expect from this novel, but I read it in one relaxing day. The characters and storyline are so vastly different from my life, yet I could relate to the feelings, aspirations, and heartache that they were feeling.
Fernando is a man who loves his wife, children, and extended family. They are all intertwined in each other's lives, living near one another, sharing property, and taking care of each other. So Fernando feels especially bad when he has had to take out a loan from shady characters in order to improve his family's house. But what happens when those people are going to come after you for payback?
Fernando sees a solution in an old high school friend, but chooses to ignore the signs that a Mexican cartel is involved. It's amazing the signs we can ignore when we need or want to. To convince ourselves that this really is the only answer. But messing with a cartel is no simple matter and Fernando's life will never be the same. My heart ached for him and his family as bad things began to happen and each step of the way he thinks he can fix it, but he can't.
There is some brutality in this book and I wanted to scream at the "bad guys" as well as those who are seemingly "good," though the lines are very blurred. This book does a really good job of showing just how difficult it was to avoid getting caught up in the Violence (the Guatemalan issues of the late 1970s and 1980s) and the current cartel issues in Mexico today.
Tuesday, September 8th: JulzReads
Wednesday, September 9th: Instagram: @bookin.good
Thursday, September 10th: Thoughts From a Highly Caffeinated Mind
Friday, September 11th: Helen’s Book Blog
Monday, September 14th: Barks Beaches Books
Tuesday, September 15th: bookchickdi
Thursday, September 17th: Kahakai Kitchen
Monday, September 21st: Literary Quicksand
Tuesday, September 22nd: Jessicamap Reviews
Wednesday, September 23rd: Girl Who Reads
Thursday, September 24th: Instagram: @mentallybooked
Friday, September 25th: Instagram: @my_read_feed
Wednesday, September 9th: Instagram: @bookin.good
Thursday, September 10th: Thoughts From a Highly Caffeinated Mind
Friday, September 11th: Helen’s Book Blog
Monday, September 14th: Barks Beaches Books
Tuesday, September 15th: bookchickdi
Thursday, September 17th: Kahakai Kitchen
Monday, September 21st: Literary Quicksand
Tuesday, September 22nd: Jessicamap Reviews
Wednesday, September 23rd: Girl Who Reads
Thursday, September 24th: Instagram: @mentallybooked
Friday, September 25th: Instagram: @my_read_feed
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