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THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH
Entertainment Weekly - June 11th, 2004
Perez-Reverte's literary thriller explodes with history, heartbreak,
determination and narcocorridos, the Mexican ballads that pay homage to
famous outlaws. Set amid the drug running culture of Spain, Morocco and
Culiacan, Mexico, where "dying violently was dying a natural death", the
saga concerns the rise of world-class smuggler Teresa Mendoza. When the
story opens in Culiacan, Mendoza is a drug runners moll, languorously
shaving her legs in the tub. Then comes the cell-phone call that changes
her life: Her boyfriend, pilot Guero [gringo] Davila has been murdered - and
she's next. But Queen is no cheesy melodrama exploiting its criminal
setting for street cred. The audacious author of The Club Dumas has written
an epic suspense story of heart and grit. Superbly translated by Andrew
Hurley, the prose is as rich and dense as a flourless chocolate cake.
Grade: A
- Karen Karbo
Arturo Perez-Reverte is "the master of the intellectual thriller"
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