The Queen of the South

There are a lot of reviews available here which outline the plot, so I won't attempt to do so here, other than to say: cocaine smuggling, logistics, deals and double crossings, Moroccan hashish, fast boats, cargo ships, dirty politics, shootouts, Mexican drug cartels, the Colombians, indiscretions and revenge. Teresa Mendoza is our lead character. She starts off as a simple narco's morra, quiet and unassuming. Her boyfriend is murdered, and she is on the run.

It is a high speed read, almost a guilty pleasure read for me, and it was enjoyable - for the most part. There was the narration style, which was fairly annoying - half narrated by a reporter who interviews various people throughout the book. His sections set up the following sections where the action is explained from Teresa's point of view.

The story rolls out in various stages, and gathers momentum until the very end, where a conclusion is met. There are other things going on - a parallel to the Count of Monte Christo, which admittedly I have not read and therefore could not track, there is the Mexican cartels unwritten rules, there is the international smuggling, the deals the doublecrossing.

I haven't read other books by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, and I may pick up another if the opportunity arises, as I did enjoy this as a fictional romp, with some basis for reality, in the drug underworld.

4 stars.