American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins Review

One Woman, Her Son And A Treacherous Journey

Plot

This is a story of a mother and her son forced to undertake the dangerous journey as undocumented immigrants to the United States. Lydia Quixano Pérez is a small bookshop owner in Acapulco, Mexico. Her life up until now has turned out exactly as she always imagined. She’s married to an investigative journalist, Sebastián and she’s mother to a bright little boy, Luca. Lydia has everything she has ever wanted. That is until she meets Javier. Javier is alluringly literate and shares Lydia’s love of reading. The pair grow increasingly close before Javier is revealed to be the kingpin of a drug cartel in Acapulco, which Lydia’s husband has been working to expose.

Being a narcotics investigator is dangerous as it is, but Acapulco in recent years has topped the list and Javier is the most deadly man to cross. Lydia becomes all too familiar with this reality when Sebastián’s article is released exposing Javier as “The Owl”. We see from the very start the damage the cartel can do as Lydia’s entire family is gunned down at a family barbeque. “There are 16 bodies in the backyard, almost everyone Lydia loved in the world.” As the only two surviving, Lydia must leave with Luca for El Norte without looking back. She understands the risks, take La Bestia, the cargo train to the U.S. then search for a smuggler who will help them cross the desert. At any point they could risk their lives, but if they do not go it’s only a matter of time before the cartel finds them.

Opinion

To be completely honest, I was really looking forward to this novel. I felt there was so much potential, running away from a drug cartel while crossing the border illegal. There could have been tension and thriller built up on every page. Instead, while very well written I felt it was a slow read and the most exciting pages was within the first chapter. The rest of the story was more descriptive about scenery and body language, whereas a lot more could’ve happened in the story.