Two worlds collide when the corruption and crime from one of Mexico's most violent cartels spreads over the border. Taylor Woodall, a sophomore at the University of Texas, has been kidnapped in Cancun while on spring break. Private investigator Catherine James is on the case, but when the evidence begins pointing to violent drug gang and the cartel puts out a hit on our heroine, she turns to the only man she knows she can trust... her former flame Matt, a war veteran with whom Catherine shares a complicated past. Meanwhile, Yesenia Flores is a young, adventurous woman from Mexico who seeks a better life across the border. But no sooner does she set out on her trek than she becomes entangled in a web of violence and crime. Escaping the cartel's clutches but a witness to a murder, Yesenia is running for her life. North and South their stories run parallel until their dramatic collision and conclusion ~ Amazon.com
This book actually comes with a warning: Caution: Book contains adult content (violence and language).
I think this book should be made into a movie!
Border Crossings is indeed written in two separated "sections" - if I can say it like that. Each of the two story lines unfold separate from the other and I was dying of curiosity to find out just how the two fit together. Weems starts the book off with a prologue. I think it is only the second time that I ever recall a book starting out that way - I am more familiar with the epilogues. However, it plays a significant role in that it acts like the proverbial carrot in front of your nose to find out just how it all came to what it was.
As I was reading this book it was like a movie screen in my imagination, and about two thirds of the way through I was having to discipline myself not to skip paragraphs, as I was sitting on the tip of my chair, anxious to find out what will happen next. The book has a very gripping rhythm to it that speeds up as you get nearer the end. Eventually I could even hear the action music as I read about the pursuits, the shootouts, the sneaking about, trying to take full advantage of the surprise element over the enemy.
Nail biting - exhilarating - intense - adventurous - sincere - wow! what a ride!!
I think my favorite character is for sure the heroine - Catherine James. She is a strong woman, loyal, go-getter, brave, taking a stand for what she believes is right. I loved how she questioned her ideas of an ideal world as the story progresses. Sometimes we think that one way is the only right way, but then we get to walk some distance in some different shoes and we start to wonder if perhaps we didn't judge a bit too harshly, too quickly. Those experiences can cause us to find forgiveness in our hearts where we couldn't before. Catherine is a thinker - yes, she is a woman (who knows how to handle herself - and handle a gun) but she doesn't deal with her emotions in a girly kind of way - She is not so heroic that she stops being human - a woman - who feels compassion, care for consequences, including in other people's lives (not just selfishly her own), who wants to do what is right, rather than simply giving in to barbaric, animal-like behaviour. Somewhere in her there is still a lady - this is actually one of the subtleties that give her an advantage over her foes at times. She is a rich, well rounded character and I think that she fills the shoes of a heroine brilliantly.
Instead of the other characters merely being 'background noise' I felt like each person was vital to the story line. Without them the character of the heroine would have been hollow. The characters were very diverse but woven together in perfect harmony.
Even though this book had a touch of romance I was thrilled that it was not just another sex drippy romance novel. It was refreshing, unpredictable, adventurous and exciting.
This book is the second one that I've read recently that touches on the topic of human trafficking. This book was not sugarcoated and I appreciated the honesty. That kind of crime is not a fantasy and the author captured very well the brutality of it - it was raw and real, but not just pages filled with sex, swearing and violence, but a real story. Without those elements it would have been just another drippy fairy tale.
I commend you, Michael Weems, on a book brilliantly written. I almost fell over when I read that you self-published this one. I found maybe just one or two little errors but I was so consumed by the events as they were playing out that I didn't even notice.
WELL DONE! I simply couldn't put it down till it was all over.
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