Gus Corral can't quite believe it when an old buddy he hasn't seen in years asks for help. Artie Baca looks as cool as ever, like a GQ cover boy, Chicano style. And like always, Artie has women problems, even though he's married. He's being blackmailed because of an imprudent fling. Artie has a prosperous real estate business and can afford to pay off the young girl, but he'll reward Gus handsomely for his help in convincing her there won't be any future payments. Gus's life hasn't been as successful; he manages his ex-wife's second hand shop after losing his job in the recession and claims to also work as the night watchman so he can live there too. He can really use the money, so he agrees to help, even though Artie probably deserves the shake down. But before Gus can deliver the money to the girl, Artie is dead and the police want to know why the deceased was carrying a check made out to him. An investigation into Artie's involvement in the gentrification of Denver's north side leads to harrowing encounters with dangerous criminals, both from the area and south of the border. Suddenly Gus is ensnared in the theft of one of the most revered religious symbols in the Catholic Latino world, a cloak bearing the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe. Caught between warring gangs, he and the people he cares about most are in a life-and-death predicament in this gripping story that twists and turns like a roller coaster, where the outlook is grim and there's no honor among thieves.
"A dark mix of North Denver gangsters and Catholicism, but it's [the] setting that really grips readers. Nostalgia is combined with reality…Ramos gets it right."
