Tijuana Straits
Kem Nunn Book Review

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Plot Summary of Tijuana Straits

"

Scribner, Aug 2004, 25.00, 306 pp.
ISBN: 0684843056

His dilapidated property, inherited from his homicidal father is located near the TIJUANA STRAITS, but loner Sam Fahey never goes surfing at the renowned locale as he had when he was a teen. Instead the former jailbird earns a pittance as a worm farmer who cannot leave his land for the anxiety attacks cripple him when he tries.

Sam, tracking wild dogs, finds a battered Mexican woman. Though he prefers to avoid humans, Sam brings the assaulted female to his trailer. He learns that his “guest”, twenty-three years old Magdalena Rivera, is an environmental activist working for a Tijuana attorney developing cases against major polluters. However, it is not her paying job that has placed Magdalena in danger, but her volunteer work at a clinic where she helped a severely abused woman with an abortion. This led to her drug-crazed husband Armando Santoya wanting to kill her. Though his offspring was a victim of the pollutants that foul the border; he blames Magdalena for the loss; only Sam stands in the way.

Known for his surf Noir tales, Kem Nunn widens the horizon with this taut border thriller. Readers learn through flashbacks what turned Sam from a highly regarded surfer into a panic attack hermit; the audience finds out why Magdalena is a rabid clean air and water activist (the hypocrisy that America worries about free trade agreements leading to pollution is ironic); finally what motivates Armando to obsess over killing Magdalena. Though there is unnecessary violence (that seems to symbolize the writer's beliefs of the lawlessness of the California-Mexico border), the author shows he is second to none when it comes to readers riding a suspense laden crest.

Harriet Klausner

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout.

"
Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Tijuana Straits

Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).

Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%

Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - crazed boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse
If story PRIMARILY about main chr. being hunted... - hunted by dangerous boy/girlfriend/spouse

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - unemployed
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
Motive of antagonist - revenge
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Texas

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 0 (not a murder mystery)
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript

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Harriet Klausner

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