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In this mesmerizing debut novel by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Liz Balmaseda, one woman's hunger for justice becomes a journey into darkness — and a punishing, soul-searching test of priorities.
Dulce Maria "Mary" Guevara is a woman with nothing left to lose. Wrongly accused of being a cocaine queen, she has lost her job, her reputation, and — worst of all — custody of her son. Even after the charges are dropped, suspicion lingers. Desperate to get it all back, she takes what she considers the only path open to her: She goes on a hunt for the real drug queen. Unfortunately, the one person she believes can help her is the last person she wants to see again: Joe Pratts, her ex-fiancé, a man whose connections to the drug world once ended their relationship.
Trying not to fall for Joe again is just the beginning of Mary's challenges, however. Her search leads her through the most deceiving of jungles: suburbia. There, she comes face-to-face with disturbing realities that challenge everything she thinks she knows about her formerly tranquil life. Mary's final dilemma hits closer to home than she ever imagined.
Sweet Mary is a gripping, heartrending story with a noir soul and plenty of surprising twists — an assured debut from a writer with tremendous experience and talent.
Near the start of Balmaseda's suspense-lite debut, gun-toting DEA agents burst into the house of Dulce Maria "Mary" Guevara, a divorced Miami, Fla., realtor, and arrest her, having mistaken Mary for cocaine queen bee Maria Guevara Portilla. The charges are eventually dropped, but the stigma remains. After Mary's boss puts her on mandatory leave and her ex-husband persuades a judge to give him full custody of their young son, Mary embarks on an improbable journey to do what the DEA can't: track down "Bad Mary" to clear her own name for good. While the author has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for journalism, Balmaseda can't resist chick lit-worthy twists and turns, including a breathless encounter with a high school sweetheart and a come-to-Jesus moment when Sweet Mary meets Bad Mary's young daughter. Screenplay-style scene intros and uninspired character development don't help. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Carlos Hurtado
reviewed Sweet Mary on August 02, 2009
Sweet Mary
After Liz Balmaseda won two Pulitzer Prizes, she gives us a female centered detective novel in Sweet Mary. A single mother, the titled Dulce Maria, Mary for short, is arrested. The victim of an improbable case of mistaken identity, Mary is fingered as a drug queen. The false charges ruin her life, so Mary decides to do what the DEA couldn't'take down the criminal herself. With a little help from her friends, one of which is a sexy past love interest, Mary embarks on a series of schemes to reclaim her good reputation.
It's kind of a given that Balmaseda is a good writer, so it isn't a surprise that the writing is good. The characters are also surprising layered for the genre. Even the bad guys are complex, and are given sufficient back story. Balmaseda also used restraint with the action sequences which keeps this story from entirely going over the top.
That said, the plot itself consists of coincidences and implausible leaps. Balmaseda also can't resist the bumbling law enforcement clichés which adds the story's stale feel. Each chapter opening up with a description of the scene is also irritating as if Balmaseda was already thinking movie. The pacing seems to fall flat in the second half of the novel where Mary bumps into leads cushioned by saccharine sweet interludes. I expected more.
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