An American Mom in Asia

Argentina is such a large and diverse country with so many beautiful cultural traditions, and so I was really looking forward to a novel from this rich country. However, this was not the book to highlight the beauty of Argentina. Cruz by Nicholas Ferraro is a gritty crime novel that follows a father and two sons in their descent into a life of organized crime. When the main character, Tomás, is forced to help his recently imprisoned older brother, Tomás’ life takes a dark turn. He had never really wanted to part of the “family business” and follow in his brother’s and father’s footsteps, but this recent conflict has left Tomás with no choice. He meets some truly awful people and does some very disturbing things. Tomás second guesses himself every time, but always follows through with the hope of getting his brother out of jail. If Tomás succeeds, what will the cost be to his own soul?

In all honesty, this book was too icky for me. I like a good crime and mystery novel, but this book was too vulgar and descriptive for my liking. If the author was going for shock factor, he succeeded, but lost me about 2 chapters into this novel. Thankfully, I’ve met Argentinians and know that they don’t all resemble these characters or this story!

⭐️ My rating: 1 star of 5