Don't Send Flowers

A gritty novel of Mexico’s volatile and violent narco-state. “A kind of Molotov cocktail that explodes in the hands of the reader.”—Forbes (Mexico) 

From a writer whose work has been praised by Junot Díaz as “Latin American fiction at its pulpy phantasmagorical finest,” Don’t Send Flowers is a riveting novel centered on Carlos Treviño, a retired police detective in northern Mexico.

 

A seventeen-year-old girl has disappeared after a fight with her boyfriend that was interrupted by armed men, leaving the boyfriend on life support and the girl an apparent kidnap victim. It’s a common occurrence in the region—prime narco territory—but the girl’s parents are rich and powerful, and determined to find their daughter at any cost. When they call upon Carlos Treviño, he tracks the missing heiress north to the town of La Eternidad, on the Gulf of Mexico not far from the U.S. border—all while constantly attempting to evade detection by La Eternidad’s chief of police, Commander Margarito Gonzalez, who is in the pockets of the cartels and has a score to settle with Treviño. 

A gritty tale of murder and kidnapping, crooked cops and violent gang disputes, Don’t Send Flowers is “a powerful, kaleidoscopic tale set in a society where there is no center to hold . . . another urgent and vital work from a writer to watch” (Booklist, starred review). 

“Rich in conception and execution . . . Don’t Send Flowers is full of odd twists and strange surprises.”—The Wall Street Journal

“An excellent, frightening portrayal of the breadth and depth of Mexico’s cartel violence and systemic corruption.”—Publishers Weekly