Quite a departure for Perez-Reverte (not an art-mystery or an historical swashbuckler) - but possibly his most heavy-hitting work to date. After the first couple of chapters, my first thought was, 'this is just like a Quentin Tarantino film!' However, the book as a whole is much more insightful and thoughtful - if just as violent.
This story of the rise of a female drug-runner, told both from her perspective and that of an investigative journalist writing a book of her life, may show the author's past as a war journalist. One comes away from this book feeling that you truly know the milieu, the danger, the people and the motivations... and that likely a lot of the book is fact.
Pulls no punches.. and while a lot of it is exciting and suspenseful, it is also tense, disturbing, and often sad.
One of the best parts of reading is that it can truly open windows into other cultures, other perspectives - this book definitely succeeded in doing that for me.

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Story of a woman who is lured into drug smuggling. It's a very gripping read with moments of action and terror and others of tenderness. You'll enjoy it.

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I liked this author so much, I got three other books by him. It was a little slow at first, but once the story got going, it was very good. I love the Spanish culture and this story tells about the drug trade, things I never knew!

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Well written, but a little too tragic for me.

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This book will hold your interest, start to finish.

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My wife and I binge-watched the TV series, The Queen of the South that aired originally on the USA Network and really enjoyed it. Then my wife decided to also watch the telenovela La Reina del Sur on which the English version was based (my wife has Mexican roots and is fluent in Spanish). She also enjoyed that version but noted many differences between the two. Both of these TV series were based on the novel by Arturo Perez-Reverte.

I decided to read the novel to see how it compared with the TV series. I must say, the novel was pretty much completely different from the American series although my wife says the Spanish version was more in line with the novel. The novel tells the story of Mexicana Teresa Mendoza's rise to power after the death of her drug-running pilot boyfriend Güero Davila. The novel also has a second narrative by an unnamed journalist who is trying to write a book about Mendoza. After her boyfriend's death, Teresa flees to Spain with the help of her godfather, Epifanio Vargas who is also a narco in Mexico and an up and coming politician. In Spain she meets another drug-runner Santiago Fisterra (who becomes her boyfriend). But this leads to an unfortunate adventure that lands Teresa in prison where she meets her future partner, Patty O'Farrell. Patty is well-educated and gets Teresa interested in reading, especially The Count of Monte Cristo which seems to mirror Teresa's life. After release from prison, Patty introduces Teresa to Teo Aljarfe, an attorney who is instrumental in Teresa's rise to power as a supplier of cocaine and hash in the Mediterranean area. But who can Teresa trust and will she be able to maintain her empire?

I did enjoy this novel for the most part but it was quite different than the American TV series. In it, Teresa flees to Texas and on to New Orleans rather than Spain. The series included many characters not in the novel but overall I found both interesting. I especially liked in the novel how Teresa's life seemed to follow what happened in The Count of Monte Cristo, a novel I have never read that has been on my TBR list for yearsâmaybe this will motivate me to read it. I also will be looking forward to reading more by Perez-Reverte.

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I loved it!!

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This is one of my favorite novels. I have read it several times and loaned it to my friends. The plotting is fast paced, the characters ring true and the anti-heroine one of my favorites.

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