Queen of the South

Outstanding, beautifully written, held my attention for many hours!

Queen of the South had a lot of detail, some of which I thought was unneeded and really didn't contribute much to the story. The author did a good job however, fleshing out the main character and despite my prudish nature I thought the foul language was essential considering this was a drug runners story. The main character was, in my opinion a psychopath but you wanted to like her regardless. All through the book she lacked any depth of feeling for those close to her even when they sacrificed themselves to save her. The end was a bit of a let down, but it was a good journey and worth the read. The narrator was a poor choice because when she switched from one character to another you couldn't follow the transition and had to guess who was speaking. All in all it was a good story.

This is my fourth Auturo Perez-Reverte novel and I have enjoyed all of them. As an author he researches whatever topic his novels explores so that we learn a lot about it, from drug smuggling to renaissance art or sword play he teaches us about all of them. I like how some of books use a connection to the works of Alexander Dumas,who is one of my favorite authors, as a plot device. His books almost always have a slow dramatic buildup while he throughly introduces us to his characters. In "Queen of the South" Teresa Mendoza begins as the naive girlfriend of a narcotics smuggler who had never given much thought to how she was living and the possible consequences of his actions or her own. When the poo hits the fan she takes the one chance left to her by her boyfriend and uses it to escape to another world where she becomes aware of and begins to develop and use own personal power.

I don't get this "critically acclaimed" stuff. This is one of the worst novels I've 'read' in a while. I got through one CD and shipped it back. The writing is horrible. You stick and gun in somebody's hand dress it up with drugs and sex call it writing. God help us if this s***t is selling...

Perez-Reverte has written some great books but I do not rank this one at the top of his efforts. I felt it dragged a bit in the middle and was entirely too long. Having said that, it is a real eye opener about the Mexican and Spanish drug culture.

Queen of the South is a slow-paced read, with shallow characters, and a pointless plot. Don't bother.

This is a fabulous book. The characters and plot are interesting and exciting. The language reflects a great writer. Highly recommended.

I had purchased this book and virtually abandoned my husband as I was so glued to it. Mr. Reverte is an author like no other. And this book takes you on a journey that is wrought with danger and desperation, but you can't help but keep pulling for Tereza. This is totally worth it!