"Maybe it was necessary, this shedding of the old ways with each generation. He had abandoned so much of what defined his mother...But lately, he'd begun to wonder if he'd abandoned too much. He felt like there was a box inside of him that had been locked away for so long, he'd forgotten where he'd put the key. There were things he treasured in that box: the sultry music of his childhood, the playfulness and sensuality of his culture. He longed to open himself up to these things again." --Jimmy Vega
The Latina Book Club is
happy to promote books by non-Latinos with great Latino characters. LAND OF CAREFUL SHADOWS by Suzanne Chazin is
such a book. The premise for this book could have been “ripped
from today’s headlines.”
It’s riveting,
suspenseful, tragic, hopeful, with realistic settings, authentic voices, continuous
action and enough twists and turns to keep readers up all night. (I was!)
SUMMARY: Jimmy Vega is a juicy, complex character,
estranged from his culture with serious displacement issues. He’s a homicide detective navigating the
world of undocumented immigrants—not illegal —in suburban New York, and often
times he is in over his head.
It all starts with the
murder of a female undocumented immigrant.
Why her? Where is her missing child?
Is the murder connected to the escalating
hate crimes around town? Detective Vega
has to find answers and fast before a clash of cultures; before mistrust and
bigotry rear their ugly heads more than they have already. But the answers will surprise everyone—himself
most of all—and change a town forever.
Readers will find that Ms. Chazin has done an
excellent job of bringing the undocumented populace to life in THE LAND OF CAREFUL
SHADOWS. They are “real” people—with
names and dreams, courage and quiet determination. There’s Caesar who brought his children so
they could live a better life; Kenny who’s been awarded a college scholarship
but may not be able to go due to his immigration status; Rodrigo who longs for
his wife and children but is stuck in a strange hard land until he can raise
enough money to go home; there’s Adele a daughter of an immigrant who graduated
from Harvard and runs the town’s immigration center; and so on.
Readers will empathize with
these characters, and hopefully with the real undocumented immigrants across the
U.S. And maybe, just maybe, our country’s
new immigration policy will be more accurate and more humane.
LAND OF CAREFUL SHADOWS is
the first book in a planned trilogy about undocumented immigrants in suburbia
and a jaded Detective determined to protect and serve. Book 2, A BLOSSOM OF BRIGHT LIGHT, will be
released in Fall 2015. Chazin hopes to
raise greater awareness through these books about the issues the undocumented
face in the U.S. The Latina Book Club wishes her luck, and looks forward to the series and seeing Detective Jimmy Vega in action again.###
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Suzanne Chazin is the daughter of Russian
immigrants. She has published three
mystery novels about the New York City Fire Department, inspired by her husband,
a high-ranking FDNY chief. LAND OF
CAREFUL SHADOWS is her first novel in 11 years.
To learn more about this author and her books, please visit her at www.suzannechazin.com.
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