by Héctor Tobar
First published 2014
Antonio Bernai arrives in Los Angeles carrying only a plastic bag filled with books, the last remnants of his former life. In Guatemala, he was a devoted husband and father, a brilliant intellectual who fought for freedom against military dictatorship. Then the Jaguars, a death squadron, destroyed everything he loved. Now Antonio wanders the margins of LA, moving between slums and sleeping in vacant lots like countless other undocumented immigrants seeking invisibility. He survives on instinct alone, anonymous among the desperate. But one day in a park, Antonio sees a man with a tattoo on his arm. The jaguar mark belongs to the death squad that killed his family. Suddenly survival instinct gives way to something darker. The encounter forces Antonio to choose between the safety of remaining hidden and the dangerous pull of revenge that could destroy what little life he has managed to rebuild.
Genres: fiction, adventure, crime, contemporary
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, revenge, survival
Setting: Guatemala, Los Angeles
Period: 20th-century
430 pages · Paperback · Belfond
Content warnings: violence