A BarksBeachesBooks Review

Welcome back! I’ve joined TLC Booktours again-this time for Remedios by Deborah Clearman, author of Todos Santos and Concepción.

While a story about a drug running scheme in Guatemala, it’s more of a family drama and suspenseful what-will-happen novel with some meth being made in the background. I know-how could the drugs NOT be front and center? But Deborah did it!

This has been compared to Breaking Bad but since I’ve never seen it (cue gasps) I will just tell you that it’s a steady building of drama around the Granados family when the patriarch Fernando’s childhood friend Memo shows up. And Memo is sneaky. While charming Fernando into letting him build a meth lab on his land, he’s also charming some other family members into other things.

Of course, Memo isn’t just evil. He might just be out for a little revenge it seems due to some animosity for the reason he and Fernando “lost touch”. But he’s sure making a game out of it.

I really enjoy this writing style and while I’d prefer this to be more drug focused (because I’m a sucker for action and thrills), this was perfectly written for a slow build up of betrayals stacked upon each other while the drug scheme overheats in the background. I have a feeling if you like family drama and suspense but not thriller stories then this would be perfect for you!

Thanks so much to TLC Booktours and Deborah Clearman for my copy to read and share with you all!

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: New Meridian Arts (July 13, 2020)

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.

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