Mexican drug-running pilot Guero Davila warned his girlfriend that if the cell phone he gave her ever rings, she must flee because he is dead and she is next. When the call came, the voice calmly told her that “They wasted Guero”, killed his cousin, and she was high on the clean up list. Listening to the voice of Guero in her head, the panicked Teresa Mendoza runs for her life.
Teresa knows that they will find her eventually so she must change from the innocent upbeat girl who a coke delivery pilot rescued from poverty to a major player. She chooses Spain to start out, but she is raped and incarcerated for her efforts. However, over the next dozen years, Teresa learns and begins to rise through the ranks until she becomes Narco's QUEEN OF THE SOUTH with a confrontation awaiting her with the Don of Mexican druglords.
Readers receive a look at drug trafficking through the exploits of the protagonist. The story line actually plays out along two plots with the main theme being the rise to power of Teresa; the other subplot focuses on a reporter doing research into Teresa's life by interviewing felons and law enforcement officials who have known her.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
"Teresa Mendoza, the young girlfriend of Mexican pilot Guero Davila, goes on the run when he is killed by rivals or former friends in the drug trade. Sent away to the south of Spain, she begins to rebuild her life and hooks up with another transporter of illicit substances, Santiago Fisterra, who collects hashish from the African coast and moves it across the Strait of Gibralter to Spain.
After Fisterra's violent death in a race with a police helicopter, the badly-injured Teresa recuperates in prison, where she meets a tough girl from a wealthy family named Patricia O'Farrell. When they are both out of prison, the two women go into business together. Mostly, Teresa manages the drug transport while Patty spends her share of the profits on drugs and women.
This 2002 story by the best-selling Spanish writer, translated into English in 2004, gives a look at the drug trade (and government corruption that accompanies it on both sides of the Atlantic), but is ultimately a romantic fantasy -- sort of a highbrow summer beach novel."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of The Queen of the South
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 15% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 15%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
The crook is....
- criminal's rise in a crime organization
Crime Thriller
Yes
Mostly a criminal POV story
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here?
- drug dealers
If story PRIMARILY about main chr. being hunted...
- hunted by killer/stalker
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- accused criminal
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race
- Hispanic
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
- an average amount
Motive of antagonist
- power
The antagonists are:
- Drug kingpins
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Spain
The Americas (not US):
Yes
The Americas:
- Mexico
Misc setting
- prison
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies
How many deaths?
- 8 or more
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- descript of kissing
- actual description of sex
Unusual forms of death
- perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
