The Plaza

Guillermo Paxton contacted me and asked me to review his new book, THE PLAZA.

       

A fictionalized treatment of the drug and mafia situation in Juarez, Mexico, this didn't seem to be the kind of book I'd usually read.

But in the news recently, we heard about the 49 people who were beheaded and left in a town square as part of the mafia power struggles in Mexico.

So while THE PLAZA is fiction, what it depicts is not. It seemed a timely and important read.

Hard hitting, intense, and violent, THE PLAZA tells the story of two main factions trying to gain control over the drug trade in the city of Juarez and beyond. Saul is an idealistic journalist who is trying to shed light on the drug trade as well as the corruption within law enforcement; Juan and Felipe are players in opposing factions. Paxton keeps the story moving, even as the death toll mounts. I kept reading, eager to find out what happened, even if some parts were incredibly brutal and hard to read.

As I read I remembered the 49 people who were beheaded. The situation in Mexico is horrific. THE PLAZA is disturbing in its depiction of the situation in Juarez. This, however, I think is the point. We need to be disturbed. And Paxton did it well.

(Not to take away from the power of the book; but I could really see this book being made into a movie.)

Thank you to Mr. Paxton for bringing this book to my awareness and to my Nook. Clicking on the book cover will take you to Amazon's web page for the book. Clicking on the underlined title is supposed to take you to Barnes and Noble's web page for this book. At this time (30 May), the Barnes and Noble links do not seem to be working. I am trying to find out why. You can send email to us at: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com.