Tijuana Straits

by Kem Nunn
----------

This story centres on the inevitable converging of three different characters. They have all, each in their separate way, been dealt a raw deal in the card game of life. Sam Fahey lives on the American side of the Tijuana River, but is familiar with the Mexican side as well. He was once a great surfer, but is now an ex-con who is now keeping to himself, trying to make a living of what little life has left him with. He turns to alcohol and occasionally drugs to help him endure and escape.

Magdalena was born and orphaned on the Mexican side, then raised by nuns and schooled on the American side. She is determined to vindicate her mother's death by fighting that what is now claiming lives in Tijuana; the maquilladoras - foreign-owned factories polluting the air and rivers on the Mexican-American border.

Armando Santoya is a Mexican damaged by the same maquilladoras, poisoned by the work conditions he and his family suffers a tragedy. He sinks deeper into drug use and eventually his perverted mind finds Magdalena guilty of his suffering and marks her for death.

It is Santoya's first attempt at her life that throws Magdalena battered and bruised in front of Fahey. Despite his better judgement he takes her into her home, hoping he isn't bringing home trouble at the same time. As Magdalena tries to get closer to explaining the events that brought her to Fahey, they get closer and Fahey seems to start opening up to life. But Santoya is getting closer too, bringing along two other killers, and soon all their destinies will converge in a battle of life and death.

This is an absolutely stunning book. The voice of the book is in third person, which allows for a beautiful and sophisticated prose. Nunn drops you in the middle of the story, moving the time line ahead at the same time as backtracking to build up an understanding of why these destinies must be and must converge. You hold your breath and wish it wasn't so, but you understand that it is inevitable and that the final outcome is anyone's guess.

Kem Nunn has also written, in chronological order:
Tapping the Source (1984)
Unassigned Territory (1986)
Pomona Queen (1992)
The Dogs of Winter (1997)
Tijuana Straits (2004)