Queen of the South

By: Arturo Perez-Reverte

Narrated by: Lina Patel

Few authors inspire the kind of passion that Arturo Pérez-Reverte does. Reviewers, readers, and booksellers alike have embraced his fiction as the perfect blend of suspense and literary ambition. A global bestseller, he is one of the most admired and widely read authors in the world. And his stunning new novel is his best yet.

A remarkable tale, The Queen of the South spans continents, from the dusty streets of Mexico to the sparkling waters off the coast of Morocco, to Spain and the Strait of Gibraltar. A sweeping story set to the irresistible beat of the drug smugglers' ballads, it encompasses sensuality and cruelty, love and betrayal, as its heroine's story unfolds.

Teresa Mendoza's boyfriend is a drug smuggler who the narcos of Sinaloa, Mexico, call "the king of the short runway," because he can get a plane full of coke off the ground in three hundred yards. But in a ruthless business, life can be short, and Teresa even has a special cell phone that Guero gave her along with a dark warning. If that phone rings, it means he's dead, and she'd better run, because they're coming for her next.

Then the call comes.

In order to survive, she will have to say goodbye to the old Teresa, an innocent girl who once entrusted her life to a pinche narco smuggler. She will have to find inside herself a woman who is tough enough to inhabit a world as ugly and dangerous as that of the narcos-a woman she never before knew existed. Indeed, the woman who emerges will surprise even those who know her legend, that of the Queen of the South.

©2002 Arturo Perez-Reverte, Translation ©2004 Andrew Hurley; (P)2004 Penguin Audio and Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

Praise for The Queen of the South

“John Le Carre meets Gabriel Garcia Marquez...Pérez-Reverte has a huge following...and it’s spreading.”—The Wall Street Journal

“A modern-day epic...bearing the unmistakable ring of authenticity and a slam-bang narrative sure to resonate with legions of appreciative readers…All the core elements, after all, are here: love, violence, betrayal and honor.”—Los Angeles Times

“The Da Vinci Code and The Rule of Four...pale in comparison with Pérez-Reverte novels...Pérez-Reverte shines in some white-knuckles action sequences...but his greatest triumph is [his] heroine.”—Time Out New York

“Pérez-Reverte’s literary thriller explodes with history, heartbreak [and] determination...An epic suspense story of heart and grit.”—Entertainment Weekly (Editor’s Choice)

“The hand of a master is apparent even in the novel’s opening line...This sweeping tale of drug-running and intrigue...is an engrossing yet literary tale of an embattled heroine on the run for her life.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“A heart-stopping narrative...It’s a rare novelist who can create a literary page-turner. Pérez-Reverte is one of those rarities.”—The Denver Post

Not my favorite

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

maybe. the writing was excellent but the subject would not be appealing to many of my friends.

How could the performance have been better?

I had trouble distinguishing between the journalist and the queen of the south. the narrator needed to change her voice more as the book went back and forth between the two characters. i would think i was listening to one person and suddenly realize that the perspective had changed and that the story was being told by the other character. I had to do some rewinding.
Near the end of the book i discovered the journalist was a man! all along i thought it was a women. I either missed this at the beginning of the book or it was very ambiguous. I don't know if this confusion was because of the narrator or the author.

It took me a couple of chapters to get used to the book switching back and forth from Teresa Mendoza and the author interviewing for his novel but great story...

Excellent Book!

What did you love best about The Queen of the South?

Love Theresa, she is an amazingly smart woman. Also liked her relationship with the Russian.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes.

Have you listened to any of Lina Patel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, and she did great.

Well written and wonderful.

I could not stop listening. Fascinating and insightful. Thids author really knows how to tell a story and get into to the mind of the main protaginist.

Queen of the Southwest

Exelent reading, thoroughly enjoyed it. I used audio narrating for first time, it was great.