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Bang
An undocumented Mexican family living in South Texas is torn apart when a son inadvertently becomes involved with narcotraficantes in Daniel Pena's debut novel that explores contemporary issues of immigration, border life and international drug smuggling.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 30, 2018
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965 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 25, 2017
3.5 stars.
This is a powerful story about what happens when adults must return back to (Northern) Mexico, where they often find a lack of familial support, organized crime, a failed state, a lack of job opportunities, and unfathomable violence. In sum, S.O.L.
Two brothers go for a ride in a plane near Harlingen and crash on the Mexican side. The pilot gets kidnapped and forced to work for narcos, while the younger one heads to his family's now war ravaged ancestral home in a small town in Northern Mexico near Juarez. Their mother returns to Mexico to look for them, but lacks funds and is injured and gets caught up with the autodefensa militias.
I lived in the RGV for years and my paternal abuelos were Juarenses, so I loved the vivid details about cities and life in Northern Mexico. Pena's skill as a short story wordsmith bleeds into every page and narrative thread, which are a nice balance of suspense and glimpses inside the character's heads at their feelings and impressions.
The ending is killer.
This is a powerful story about what happens when adults must return back to (Northern) Mexico, where they often find a lack of familial support, organized crime, a failed state, a lack of job opportunities, and unfathomable violence. In sum, S.O.L.
Two brothers go for a ride in a plane near Harlingen and crash on the Mexican side. The pilot gets kidnapped and forced to work for narcos, while the younger one heads to his family's now war ravaged ancestral home in a small town in Northern Mexico near Juarez. Their mother returns to Mexico to look for them, but lacks funds and is injured and gets caught up with the autodefensa militias.
I lived in the RGV for years and my paternal abuelos were Juarenses, so I loved the vivid details about cities and life in Northern Mexico. Pena's skill as a short story wordsmith bleeds into every page and narrative thread, which are a nice balance of suspense and glimpses inside the character's heads at their feelings and impressions.
The ending is killer.
July 21, 2025
This is a series of tragedies, and I did not really enjoy it to be honest. It started off promising, but as time went on this was more and more unbelieveable and tragic and like the author just threw in all the bad things they could think of, and no characters get happy endings or moments. It was v bleak... not one I liked 1*
December 13, 2018
A dark story, indeed.
"Bang" is the story of a Mexican-American family with ties on both sides of the border. Araceli, the matriarch, lives with her two sons near a fruit grove in Harlingen, Texas. She sits and waits daily for her husband, who's long since been deported back to Mexico. She lives with sorrow in her husband's absence, as well as frequent nosebleeds and blackouts from the constant exposure to pesticides. Cuauhtemoc, the more troublesome elder son, flies crop duster planes for the fruit farm while her younger son, Uli, struggles to complete high school.
After a late night flight with Uli, Cuauhtemoc crashes one of the farm's planes onto the Mexican side of the border. Both brothers are injured but manage to survive, and eventually become separated and trapped in Mexico. A new chain of disastrous events are then set into motion when Araceli, who hears of the crash, crosses the border to look for her sons. Cuauhtemoc is forced to fly drug deliveries for a violent local cartel, while Uli searches for his father but ends up getting caught up in a local dogfighting ring and boosting copper for cash.
This novel is presented in alternating narratives among the main three characters. This slows down the pace considerably, so there is an extraordinary focus on the human suffering taking place on both sides of the border, as well as the violent drug war taking place there. It's an uncomfortable story, but one that definitely needs to be told.
Four stars.
"Bang" is the story of a Mexican-American family with ties on both sides of the border. Araceli, the matriarch, lives with her two sons near a fruit grove in Harlingen, Texas. She sits and waits daily for her husband, who's long since been deported back to Mexico. She lives with sorrow in her husband's absence, as well as frequent nosebleeds and blackouts from the constant exposure to pesticides. Cuauhtemoc, the more troublesome elder son, flies crop duster planes for the fruit farm while her younger son, Uli, struggles to complete high school.
After a late night flight with Uli, Cuauhtemoc crashes one of the farm's planes onto the Mexican side of the border. Both brothers are injured but manage to survive, and eventually become separated and trapped in Mexico. A new chain of disastrous events are then set into motion when Araceli, who hears of the crash, crosses the border to look for her sons. Cuauhtemoc is forced to fly drug deliveries for a violent local cartel, while Uli searches for his father but ends up getting caught up in a local dogfighting ring and boosting copper for cash.
This novel is presented in alternating narratives among the main three characters. This slows down the pace considerably, so there is an extraordinary focus on the human suffering taking place on both sides of the border, as well as the violent drug war taking place there. It's an uncomfortable story, but one that definitely needs to be told.
Four stars.
February 12, 2019
An exceptionally well-written, honest, and often brutal account of the realities of life on the US/Mexico border. Set in the drug war that continues to claim lives on both sides of said border, the novel is a tale of two brothers separated by fate, and the mother who searches for them. The Mexico Daniel describes is at once apocalyptic and recognizable. One of the best books ever written on the subject of the drug war.
September 13, 2020
Evocative. Detailed. Gut-wrenching. Thoughtful. Abounding with deep empathy.
August 11, 2020
I know I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but what can I say...I'm weak. The cover of this book does not do it justice, and I don't think it attracts the type of reader that will enjoy this book the most. The cover gives the impression that the book will explore cold, faceless violence. I found myself defending this book to everyone who saw the cover for the week I carried it around. To be sure, the book does touch on extreme violence, but with much more nuance than you might expect. And while violence is often the backdrop of the story, it is not its main focus. This book does a tremendous job exploring the lives and relationships of people on the Texas border and in Northern Mexico by focusing on the story of one family--a story that will break your heart. But after your heart breaks, it will be softer towards the real people whose lives provided the background for this well-researched novel. Hope waxes and wanes throughout the book, but hope for humanity and for change that will arc towards justice will grow as people read this book and internalize its narrative.
July 9, 2018
This is a bracing, difficult look at the drug war on the border between the US and Mexico, told in shifting vignettes within a family ripped apart by forces immense, cruel, and totally beyond their control. At times, Pena's near-apocalyptic vision meant that I had to read other books in the middle of this one, but the strains of a society near-break down, scavenging at a mythical level that could be science fiction, and above all, the pain of people brutally affected by the confluence of events results in a book that felt like Cormac McCarthy at moments & James Cameron's Terminator films crossed with environmental horror that will not leave me. Affecting and powerful.
July 5, 2019
That ending, yes. Like something out of a rated R because-of-the-violence movie except that this is the sad reality of life across the border. The writing is detailed and beautiful but the subject matter, although so very important, was very hard to digest even for me who can handle a lot. It is easier to manage material like this when I know it be fiction. Knowing this is what life is like for so many unfortunate people makes this a very difficult book to like. It is an important book everyone should read.
April 14, 2021
Heartbreaker. Should be required reading for anyone who needs help developing empathy. Great characters in a sad and frustrating situation.
October 9, 2024
This book is a snapshot of the lives of immigrants who live in fear of authorities and drug cartels. It has a sort of plot, but not a very detailed one and the plot does not drive the story. It is a character study of the challenges and travails that a segment of society faces that the reader probably has not given much thought to. It comes across as credible; the author is not phoning it in and his knowledge is not based on what he read on Wikipedia. I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about this area and these people. I found it listed as a recommendation for people unsatisfied with "American Dirt."
August 7, 2020
To paraphrase a quote I heard from author Tayari Jones, the best novels are about people and their problems, not problems and their people. I think that quote applies to this novel. Although there are many, many problems in this book, it is about the people first, and their problems second. To me, one of the strengths of this book was its characters and the little quirks that make them unique. The story also demonstrates how one small, seemingly inconsequential action can have a huge impact on our lives. I hope to see more books in the future by this author.
June 15, 2021
Interesting book, writen in episodes of the three main characters last days. It is difficult to describe the way this book through seemingly fantastic, horrifying stories gives you a harrowing idea of the life among drug gangs in Mexico. It is brilliantly constructed. The selection of the characters to tell the story is inspired as at the beginning they are not involved in drug traficking but they seem to be innocent victims of the circumstances which some how makes the reader feel that the whole harrowing story is something that could happen to you. Excelent.
December 28, 2024
Unflinching and grotesque in its depiction of violence, carnage, and corruption, this book is grim. Very grim. But through all of this are three deeply real and profoundly human characters, whose hope and yearning for a return to normalcy preserve them even in the most horrible conditions. I think this was a great book, and assuming that it's all realistic, it's a harrowing look into a world I would have never known anything about from this side of the border
October 9, 2019
Bang displays a microsection of the brutality caused by the cartel presence in Mexico. The family involved faces violence and lack of agency in a downward spiral of events. Daniel Peña humanizes the people involved in the periphery of the often sensationalized drug cartel. This book was a fast and engaging read, and I would highly recommend it.
May 19, 2020
Brutal and breathtaking. Two undocumented teenage brothers crash a plane across the Mexican border. They are separated and both drawn into the orbit of cartels, autodefensas, and the military. Their mom crosses the border to try and reunite with them in San Miguel, the town their family abandoned for Texas years before. Things do not go well.
June 26, 2020
Very solid book dealing with super difficult material. I found myself at times in disbelief that such poverty and lawlessness can even exist. I really got into the heads of the main characters and could see the world from their point of view. Makes sense that the author is a pilot - his description of planes read like love letters!
June 8, 2020
I only got half way through before giving up. I enjoyed it in parts, such as the description of the trailer and the plane crash, but some of the chapters I found to be a drag. Maybe because it jumps from character to character in the chapters, idk. Anyway 2*, not for me.
August 10, 2020
Uffffff. A hard book, difficult to read and full of darkness and hopelessness. I enjoyed it's authenticity but still I hope it's exaggerated to make a point - otherwise this world is a hopeless place ...
September 12, 2023
Riveting, familial and heartbreaking rolled into a fictional tale of many many peoples realities. I wish America took the time to read about what undocumented immigrants go through to simply exist on the same soil as them. This tale was not a happy ending, like much of life.
April 24, 2018
What an amazing novel by a local author. I wonder if I can audit his classes.
October 3, 2019
Gut-wrenching book! I would say it was horror but much of it is based on real events.
February 7, 2020
Brutal, but vital. I can well understand the acclaim. This is definitely going to stay with me.
February 14, 2020
One of the best. Brutally unapologetic and piercing narrative. Hard to put down.
April 20, 2020
A bit of a tough read since there is a lot of violence. However it is very well written and I know it will stay with me for a while
May 4, 2025
Captivating, thought provoking, and deeply meaningful novel! Captures the emotional residue of borderlands and nepantla.
September 30, 2025
Plays out like an Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu movie—fractured and visceral and depressing as hell. Daniel Peña knows his shit about the border.
May 25, 2020
I loved this book
In his debut novel, Pena sheds light on the humanity of the immigration crisis. He shows us the reality what undocumented immigrants forced back (by whatever means or for whatever reason) to Mexico face.
Pena's descriptions of the places, the people and the circumstances are so vivid that they lived in my dreams.
While a difficult subject, this book is important and timely. I also encourage you to read his short stories, blog posts And interviews with him if you want to learn more about this subject.
That ending though....
In his debut novel, Pena sheds light on the humanity of the immigration crisis. He shows us the reality what undocumented immigrants forced back (by whatever means or for whatever reason) to Mexico face.
Pena's descriptions of the places, the people and the circumstances are so vivid that they lived in my dreams.
While a difficult subject, this book is important and timely. I also encourage you to read his short stories, blog posts And interviews with him if you want to learn more about this subject.
That ending though....
January 18, 2021
I very much appreciated the way Daniel Pena writes - his lyrical and poetic voice that is altogether unique and engaging. The book moves quickly, and did feel I wanted a bit more near the end, but the unexpected made me appreciate his interesting plot and characters more.
Read
June 30, 2018Review forthcoming in Literal Magazine.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews