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Cruz
Set in northern Argentina, the gorgeous and gruesome story of two brothers following in their criminal father’s footsteps in a bloody battle to save their family from drug lords, perfect for fans of Don Winslow and Narcos.
Tomás Cruz swore he would never be like his father, an abusive cocaine junkie whose gangland exploits are notorious throughout the underbelly of northern Argentina. When Samuel Cruz is sentenced to thirteen years in prison, he leaves a laundry list of unfinished cartel business. Seba, Tomás’s revered older brother, has no choice but to abandon his straight life and take over his father’s underworld debt.
Now fifteen years has passed, Seba has been arrested, and the ruthless cartel boss is holding his wife and daughter as collateral—just in time for the holidays. Tomás is forced to choose between protecting his family and his soul as he assumes the to-do list where Seba left off, plunging into the shocking depravity of the cartel to track a drug deal gone wrong. On a bloody quest for underworld justice that will take him from a nightmarish bar staffed by teenage sex slaves to the murky depths of the Paran River, Tomás discovers himself capable of violence he never thought possible. He must ask himself if he really is hisfather’s son . . . and he may not like the answer.
Argentinian noir wunderkind Nicolás Ferraro’s first novel to be translated into English, Cruz was a finalist for the prestigious Dashiell Hammett Award for Best Crime Novel.
Tomás Cruz swore he would never be like his father, an abusive cocaine junkie whose gangland exploits are notorious throughout the underbelly of northern Argentina. When Samuel Cruz is sentenced to thirteen years in prison, he leaves a laundry list of unfinished cartel business. Seba, Tomás’s revered older brother, has no choice but to abandon his straight life and take over his father’s underworld debt.
Now fifteen years has passed, Seba has been arrested, and the ruthless cartel boss is holding his wife and daughter as collateral—just in time for the holidays. Tomás is forced to choose between protecting his family and his soul as he assumes the to-do list where Seba left off, plunging into the shocking depravity of the cartel to track a drug deal gone wrong. On a bloody quest for underworld justice that will take him from a nightmarish bar staffed by teenage sex slaves to the murky depths of the Paran River, Tomás discovers himself capable of violence he never thought possible. He must ask himself if he really is hisfather’s son . . . and he may not like the answer.
Argentinian noir wunderkind Nicolás Ferraro’s first novel to be translated into English, Cruz was a finalist for the prestigious Dashiell Hammett Award for Best Crime Novel.
312 pages, Hardcover
Published October 4, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
November 19, 2019
4,5 estrellas para esta novela muy negra, llena de violencia, magnífica por todo lo que muestra, por cómo lo muestra y por lo que significa.
Lo más complicado: entender ese lenguaje y asumir que me pierdo detalles de todo lo que el autor ha querido mostrar; lo mejor: la historia, los personajes y cómo está contada.
Opinión completa en el blog:
https://millibrosenmibiblioteca.blogs...
Lo más complicado: entender ese lenguaje y asumir que me pierdo detalles de todo lo que el autor ha querido mostrar; lo mejor: la historia, los personajes y cómo está contada.
Opinión completa en el blog:
https://millibrosenmibiblioteca.blogs...
December 9, 2022
There are the bones of a good story there,and good writing,but,like Kike Ferrari,he goes so over the top the reader recoils in disgust.
February 8, 2020
Escrita a filo y plomo, Cruz logró cortarme el aliento durante todo el tiempo que duró mi lectura. Ferraro viene de la escuela de Leo Oyola que a la vez se nutre de Sasturain. Oyola, Ferraro, Juan Carrá, Kike Ferrari. Todos nombres de una generación que se encargó de revalorizar el género de novela negra y revisitar la gauchesca argentina. Acabo de leer uno de los (hasta ahora) últimos episodios de esa tradición difusa que comenzó con El matadero y cuyo más renombrado exponente es el Martín Fierro.
Estamos del otro lado de la frontera, en el que las lealtades y las traiciones son difusas y al mismo tiempo aún más sagradas. Casi como un guiño a Fierro surge esta casta de malditos: los Cruz, mismo apellido que la del compañero de Fierro.La violencia desmesurada está puesta desde el primer párrafoy no acaba hasta un par de líneas antes del final. Esta monstruosidad de carne, palo y hueso es un acto pop visceral, como ver una pintora de Francis Bacon.
La historia es sencilla: una deuda de sangre, un "trabajo"mal hecho por el hermano del protagonista lo hunde en una carrera contrareloj por salvar a su hermano de una atrocidad inimaginable en la cárcel, sin saber que el verdadero horror será el que vivirá en ese submundo de la triple frontera misionera de Argentina - Paraguay - Brasil. Ferraro no se ahorra en describir ese mundo: torturas, violaciones, infanticidios, femicidios, trata de blancas, narcotráfico, pedofilia. A veces me pregunto cómo tuvo estómago para escribir ciertos pasajes.
Si Nicolás Ferraro se engarza en una tradición específica que se puede rastrear a lo largo de su novela, difícilmente se pueda pensar que imita a nadie. Creo que acá hay una voz propia y que debemos estar atentos a lo que vaya a publicar de ahora en más. Al menos los que gustamos del género negro. Me arriesgo a decir que Cruz será antologizado dentro del género si se lo deja añejar un poco más.
Estamos del otro lado de la frontera, en el que las lealtades y las traiciones son difusas y al mismo tiempo aún más sagradas. Casi como un guiño a Fierro surge esta casta de malditos: los Cruz, mismo apellido que la del compañero de Fierro.La violencia desmesurada está puesta desde el primer párrafoy no acaba hasta un par de líneas antes del final. Esta monstruosidad de carne, palo y hueso es un acto pop visceral, como ver una pintora de Francis Bacon.
La historia es sencilla: una deuda de sangre, un "trabajo"mal hecho por el hermano del protagonista lo hunde en una carrera contrareloj por salvar a su hermano de una atrocidad inimaginable en la cárcel, sin saber que el verdadero horror será el que vivirá en ese submundo de la triple frontera misionera de Argentina - Paraguay - Brasil. Ferraro no se ahorra en describir ese mundo: torturas, violaciones, infanticidios, femicidios, trata de blancas, narcotráfico, pedofilia. A veces me pregunto cómo tuvo estómago para escribir ciertos pasajes.
Si Nicolás Ferraro se engarza en una tradición específica que se puede rastrear a lo largo de su novela, difícilmente se pueda pensar que imita a nadie. Creo que acá hay una voz propia y que debemos estar atentos a lo que vaya a publicar de ahora en más. Al menos los que gustamos del género negro. Me arriesgo a decir que Cruz será antologizado dentro del género si se lo deja añejar un poco más.
June 26, 2025
es la segunda vez que leo este libro y me encanta porque tiene todo lo que yo espero de una novela noir: un apellido pesado, la triple frontera, una cantidad irrisoria de falopa, crímenes que generan nuevos crímenes, sangre por todos lados, humor y un poco de ternura.
la recomiendo mucho pero si sos muy sensible seguí de largo porque la vas a pasar para el orto.
la recomiendo mucho pero si sos muy sensible seguí de largo porque la vas a pasar para el orto.
July 2, 2018
Cómo si se tratara más de una enfermedad que un apellido, el protagonista de Cruz carga su nombre como una maldición. No es para menos. Su padre fue (o es, no está claro) uno de los más peligrosos y sádicos sicarios que se dedicara al contrabando en la frontera entre Argentina y Paraguay y su hermano mayor siguió sus pasos. Ahora por deudas que pagar -deudas no generadas por él mismo sino por esos mencionados familiares- el más chico de los Cruz tiene que seguir la senda de sus mayores, un camino empañado en sangre, dolor y muerte. Nicolás Ferraro ya la había sacado del parque con Dogo y ahora logra algo muy difícil: una novela a la altura -o quizá superior- de aquel estupendo debut. Pero no es una novela para todos los paladares -o los estómagos- ya que tiene momentos (muertes terribles, tortura, prostitución infantil, etc.) que hacen apartar la vista al lector más veterano (y estoy siendo literal, desde El Poder del Perro de Don Winslow que no me topaba con algo tan fuerte). Una prosa contundente, propia (la sombra de Leo Oyola que sí se sentía en Dogo aquí ya no está) la de Ferraro, un escritor que me anoto a seguir en todas. Una gran novela sobre contrabando, honor, lealtad, deber y violencia, nominada merecidamente este año al premio Hammett de la Semana Negra de Gijón y que me tiene sin dudas hinchando tanto como por Uruguay por ella.
May 15, 2018
Novela de violencia desmesurada pero que resulta incluso apropiada para la trama y para la historia. Una trama sobre lealtad, venganza, amor fraternal y decepciones. Muy recomendable.
July 29, 2025
Samuel Cruz has a reputation that Tomas is determined to not follow. He is however forced to enter the crime world to help save his brother Sebastian who got arrested and Tomas has to complete the task that Seb failed in. The fact that Seb’s wife and daughter are under the watch of the drug people makes this mission something that Tomas cannot move away from, not to mention that his girlfriend is also threatened. As the tale progresses, the mission becomes too brutal for Tomas to stomach, and he has no way but to enlist Samuel to manage the crisis.
Cruz is ultra-violent. The violent world of crime, the casual cruelness, the destined fate of the individuals who are entrapped in this enterprise, provides a bleak and disturbing picture. The violent writing is colorful and cinematic, something only a Latin American writer can produce (Fernanda Melchor comes to mind).
Quotes:
* He was so smart that he can sell gloves to a f****** amputee.
* For a man whose Faith is blind, a rosary is a page read in Braille.
* He gives Tomas a bag of coke and says 'Do an adidas' (3 lines like the logo)
* Those guys are toughsays Felix. Tough is 69-ing with a midget, says Alvarenga.
* Without Alina, my life would be a religion with no God to worship.
* I think about all these women whose only damp parts are their eyes, about cries for help disguised as dirty talk, desperate screams disguised as moans. If an alarm existed to announce the end of the world, it would sound exactly like those screams.
* After a while while I found out that instead of breastfeeding you, she was letting a bunch of bikers suck her tits for coke. That's when I realized how your mom loved kids: as raw sperm, when she could guzzle them down. Not when they cried or wanted something to eat.
Facts:
Pombero: The Pombero (Guarani: Pombéro) is a mythological being typical of Paraguay's cultural heritage. It is a mythical humanoid creature of small stature in Guarani mythology. The Pombéro is said to capture particularly ungrateful girls, force them to kiss him, and later rape them.
Clerico: Clericó is a Latin American punch, particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay, that is very similar to sangria. It typically features white wine and a variety of fresh, seasonal fruits, along with sugar and sometimes a touch of brandy or other liquor.
Cruz is ultra-violent. The violent world of crime, the casual cruelness, the destined fate of the individuals who are entrapped in this enterprise, provides a bleak and disturbing picture. The violent writing is colorful and cinematic, something only a Latin American writer can produce (Fernanda Melchor comes to mind).
Quotes:
* He was so smart that he can sell gloves to a f****** amputee.
* For a man whose Faith is blind, a rosary is a page read in Braille.
* He gives Tomas a bag of coke and says 'Do an adidas' (3 lines like the logo)
* Those guys are toughsays Felix. Tough is 69-ing with a midget, says Alvarenga.
* Without Alina, my life would be a religion with no God to worship.
* I think about all these women whose only damp parts are their eyes, about cries for help disguised as dirty talk, desperate screams disguised as moans. If an alarm existed to announce the end of the world, it would sound exactly like those screams.
* After a while while I found out that instead of breastfeeding you, she was letting a bunch of bikers suck her tits for coke. That's when I realized how your mom loved kids: as raw sperm, when she could guzzle them down. Not when they cried or wanted something to eat.
Facts:
Pombero: The Pombero (Guarani: Pombéro) is a mythological being typical of Paraguay's cultural heritage. It is a mythical humanoid creature of small stature in Guarani mythology. The Pombéro is said to capture particularly ungrateful girls, force them to kiss him, and later rape them.
Clerico: Clericó is a Latin American punch, particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay, that is very similar to sangria. It typically features white wine and a variety of fresh, seasonal fruits, along with sugar and sometimes a touch of brandy or other liquor.
February 8, 2020
Me gusta leer a autores argentinos y aunque me creía curtido en sus expresiones y palabras, reconozco que he tirado de Google alguna que otra vez para quitarme las dudas, por curiosidad personal, nada que con el contexto no se consiga, una vez que te haces con la prosa del autor, la novela se lee bien.
Sobre la historia decir que me ha gustado mucho, de las que ponen el nivel alto a otras pendientes de leer. Describe la parte más sórdida del ser humano, de la sociedad, es plomo, sangre, droga, prostitución, trata, hay violencia, pero no es gratuita, es dura, también es reflexiva y emocional, no te deja indiferente. Es hardboiled en estado puro.
Sobre la historia decir que me ha gustado mucho, de las que ponen el nivel alto a otras pendientes de leer. Describe la parte más sórdida del ser humano, de la sociedad, es plomo, sangre, droga, prostitución, trata, hay violencia, pero no es gratuita, es dura, también es reflexiva y emocional, no te deja indiferente. Es hardboiled en estado puro.
January 16, 2023
Reminded me of Kiki Ferrari's Like Flies From Afar, in that it's too violent, thin on character, ideas and original plot, and clunkily translated. A disappointment.
July 9, 2025
I mean, it’s pretty obvious. I had to.
Bummer it’s not very good, but it did give me gold like “Cruz, you’re a son of a bitch” and “Take it easy, Little Cruz.”
It’s boilerplate, occasionally cringy cartel-noir.
Bummer it’s not very good, but it did give me gold like “Cruz, you’re a son of a bitch” and “Take it easy, Little Cruz.”
It’s boilerplate, occasionally cringy cartel-noir.
Read
April 15, 2024The writing is super cheesy.
Too bad, I was really looking forward to this daddy issues crime read.
Back then I was just a kid who’d lost his Daddy. By the time Daddy became my old man, I started to learn the truth, and my old man turned into a son of a bitch.
Too bad, I was really looking forward to this daddy issues crime read.
October 21, 2022
This book makes a movie like Scarface seem like a Disney cartoon.
The descriptions of violence, and abuse especially of the women being trafficked is brutal!
But!
Outside of a few sentences that seemed confusing I imagine due to the translation to English The writing is absolutely outstanding.
The story is about
A family made up of a father- Samuel (who never acted like one) and his two sons, Seba and Tomás one- Seba who follows in his father’s footsteps until he makes as colossal mistake which forces his younger brother Tomás into the criminal world.
They are Argentinian, mid level drug dealers and enforcers. The level of violence and human suffering is monumental and the reader is spared no detail.
But the writing!
Wow!!!
Poetic, and deep.
This is the authors first novel to be translated into English. I hope more will be done soon.
Some examples:
“For a man whose faith is blind, a rosary is a page read in Braille.”
“The past is the one thing no one can take away from you, no matter what you owe them.”
“There are two types of people.
People who say “I love you” and people who say “Me, too.”
“Cemeteries and Prisons are full of people who trusted somebody.”
“Hope and Torture are the same word. Two different ways to suffer.”
“Family is the worst trap.
Shared blood disguises lies.
Especially the ones that are the hardest to believe.”
“Sometimes a father is just someone who fucked the woman who gave birth to you, and a brother is just a birth control pill she forgot to take, a chain she thought would keep him from leaving.”
“The family that matters is the one you choose yourself.”
The descriptions of violence, and abuse especially of the women being trafficked is brutal!
But!
Outside of a few sentences that seemed confusing I imagine due to the translation to English The writing is absolutely outstanding.
The story is about
A family made up of a father- Samuel (who never acted like one) and his two sons, Seba and Tomás one- Seba who follows in his father’s footsteps until he makes as colossal mistake which forces his younger brother Tomás into the criminal world.
They are Argentinian, mid level drug dealers and enforcers. The level of violence and human suffering is monumental and the reader is spared no detail.
But the writing!
Wow!!!
Poetic, and deep.
This is the authors first novel to be translated into English. I hope more will be done soon.
Some examples:
“For a man whose faith is blind, a rosary is a page read in Braille.”
“The past is the one thing no one can take away from you, no matter what you owe them.”
“There are two types of people.
People who say “I love you” and people who say “Me, too.”
“Cemeteries and Prisons are full of people who trusted somebody.”
“Hope and Torture are the same word. Two different ways to suffer.”
“Family is the worst trap.
Shared blood disguises lies.
Especially the ones that are the hardest to believe.”
“Sometimes a father is just someone who fucked the woman who gave birth to you, and a brother is just a birth control pill she forgot to take, a chain she thought would keep him from leaving.”
“The family that matters is the one you choose yourself.”
November 13, 2022
meh. Violent yes. Good story? Not so much. I'm sure something always gets lost in translation but seemed like just another revenge story to me.
September 18, 2022
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Soho Press for an advanced copy of this tough noir thriller about family, regrets and the violence that people do.
The sins of a father have a habit of carrying over to the children, effecting not only a family, and a community but the future of many, many people. And when the father in question is a cocaine loving murderous monster who other criminals tells stories of his atrocities like ghost stories told around campfires, that is a lot of sins to attest to. Cruz is a vicious little novel, written by Nicolás Ferraro, translated by Mallory N. Craig- Kuhn, that tells the story of two brothers and the cycle of violence they never seem able to escape.
Tomás remembers the night they finally took his father to prison, for murder, the amount of men it took and the flashing lights. The list that his father's right hand man presented to his older brother about tasks that still had to be done, killing enemies being most prominent. Tomás swore that he would never get involved, studying to be a doctor, studying to be something other than his father's son. Until his brother was caught with a massive amount of drugs, and suddenly the crimes of his brother suddenly become his. Tomás is tasked with finishing his brother's work, with the price being Tomás' sister-in-law and niece. Tomás know wonders if he has enough of his father in him to do what has to be done.
A story of family, violence and even more violence. The world of Cruz is nasty, grim and full of evil. The only bright spots being Tomás' niece and his girlfriend who he tries to keep as far away as possible from this whirlpool of darkness. Tomás is an interesting character, with a lot of depth and an ability to find that rage that is his father's legacy. The rest of the characters really shine, each has quirks and ways that Ferraro presents them that they never seem cartoon, or just presented to die, but have lives and interests that we don't know. The story is brutal, especially in its treatment of women. Really brutal. The violence is never over the top even though it includes weapons from fists, knives guns, and home improvement tools. The writing is quite good, a mix of both poetry and noir, that makes the story move along, and again makes you care what is happening to these characters.
Ferraro is making a name for himself in the noir market in Argentina, in fact Cruz was a finalist for the Dashiell Hammet Award for Best Crime Novel. And it shows. This is a very assured novel, without any missteps about bad people, doing bad things, but with a real flair in the writing. Perfect Pulp. For fans of Don Winslow, Edward Bunker, Andrew Vachss and Jean- Claude Izzo.
The sins of a father have a habit of carrying over to the children, effecting not only a family, and a community but the future of many, many people. And when the father in question is a cocaine loving murderous monster who other criminals tells stories of his atrocities like ghost stories told around campfires, that is a lot of sins to attest to. Cruz is a vicious little novel, written by Nicolás Ferraro, translated by Mallory N. Craig- Kuhn, that tells the story of two brothers and the cycle of violence they never seem able to escape.
Tomás remembers the night they finally took his father to prison, for murder, the amount of men it took and the flashing lights. The list that his father's right hand man presented to his older brother about tasks that still had to be done, killing enemies being most prominent. Tomás swore that he would never get involved, studying to be a doctor, studying to be something other than his father's son. Until his brother was caught with a massive amount of drugs, and suddenly the crimes of his brother suddenly become his. Tomás is tasked with finishing his brother's work, with the price being Tomás' sister-in-law and niece. Tomás know wonders if he has enough of his father in him to do what has to be done.
A story of family, violence and even more violence. The world of Cruz is nasty, grim and full of evil. The only bright spots being Tomás' niece and his girlfriend who he tries to keep as far away as possible from this whirlpool of darkness. Tomás is an interesting character, with a lot of depth and an ability to find that rage that is his father's legacy. The rest of the characters really shine, each has quirks and ways that Ferraro presents them that they never seem cartoon, or just presented to die, but have lives and interests that we don't know. The story is brutal, especially in its treatment of women. Really brutal. The violence is never over the top even though it includes weapons from fists, knives guns, and home improvement tools. The writing is quite good, a mix of both poetry and noir, that makes the story move along, and again makes you care what is happening to these characters.
Ferraro is making a name for himself in the noir market in Argentina, in fact Cruz was a finalist for the Dashiell Hammet Award for Best Crime Novel. And it shows. This is a very assured novel, without any missteps about bad people, doing bad things, but with a real flair in the writing. Perfect Pulp. For fans of Don Winslow, Edward Bunker, Andrew Vachss and Jean- Claude Izzo.
January 21, 2021
NOOOOOO, lo que es este libro, por favoooor.
Un viaje a lo más bajo del mundo del narcotráfico donde la esperanza es una tortura, los vínculos toman la forma de una soga atada al cuello y la única luz en la oscuridad es el fuego que se ve antes de ser asesinado por un disparo.
A cada capítulo se te enfría más la sangre, y ese final te termina vaciando el corazón.
Y no se confundan. Que el contexto de la historia y el género al que pertenece no les hagan creer que no puede aspirar a mas: la violencia y el sufrimiento hacen nacer a la reflexión cuando el escaso silencio les otorga un segundo de paz, momentos antes de que la culpa y los traumas terminen por poner de rodillas a los personajes y los obligen a abrirse el pecho o la cabeza para liberar un poco de presión.
Encima la edición es hermosa, no solo la portada refleja la melancolía y tristeza del derrotado, al igual que la violencia más rabiosa, sino que también la primera y última hoja son a color, al igual que algunos textos al inicio del libro mismo. Todo por nada: 650 pesos a la fecha. 227 páginas con 34 lineas de texto, y se aprovechan todas y cada una de sus palabras.
Un viaje a lo más bajo del mundo del narcotráfico donde la esperanza es una tortura, los vínculos toman la forma de una soga atada al cuello y la única luz en la oscuridad es el fuego que se ve antes de ser asesinado por un disparo.
A cada capítulo se te enfría más la sangre, y ese final te termina vaciando el corazón.
Y no se confundan. Que el contexto de la historia y el género al que pertenece no les hagan creer que no puede aspirar a mas: la violencia y el sufrimiento hacen nacer a la reflexión cuando el escaso silencio les otorga un segundo de paz, momentos antes de que la culpa y los traumas terminen por poner de rodillas a los personajes y los obligen a abrirse el pecho o la cabeza para liberar un poco de presión.
Encima la edición es hermosa, no solo la portada refleja la melancolía y tristeza del derrotado, al igual que la violencia más rabiosa, sino que también la primera y última hoja son a color, al igual que algunos textos al inicio del libro mismo. Todo por nada: 650 pesos a la fecha. 227 páginas con 34 lineas de texto, y se aprovechan todas y cada una de sus palabras.
February 23, 2023
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I think it had something to say and was well written, even in translation, but it was a harsh read without a lot of sympathy for its characters.
The youngest Cruz brother is tapped to "fix" a mistake his brother made that sends the elder to prison. He doesn't want the life his older brother inherited from their father; he wants to be somebody else, his own person, not tied to the behaviors that dragged his family down. BUT this is his brother, who has a wife and daughter under threat, so Cruz the younger steps up. And OMG, what a world he steps into.
He takes us on a trip to some awful places with awful people doing awful things. If you, like little Cruz, make it through that, we all learn some things about some things. Like fathers and families and who we are in relation to who we think we are, and who the people around us really are. But it's a rough journey.
You've been warned.
The youngest Cruz brother is tapped to "fix" a mistake his brother made that sends the elder to prison. He doesn't want the life his older brother inherited from their father; he wants to be somebody else, his own person, not tied to the behaviors that dragged his family down. BUT this is his brother, who has a wife and daughter under threat, so Cruz the younger steps up. And OMG, what a world he steps into.
He takes us on a trip to some awful places with awful people doing awful things. If you, like little Cruz, make it through that, we all learn some things about some things. Like fathers and families and who we are in relation to who we think we are, and who the people around us really are. But it's a rough journey.
You've been warned.
November 18, 2025
Una odisea "familiar", dada en una zona común en los libros del autor, el litoral Argentino + Paraguay..
Donde el protagonista, portador de un apellido que arrastra una historia de flia; como minimo, NEGRÍSIMA, se ve forzado a ser participe de situaciones descarnadas, gore nivel diosss, para terminar de descubrir que su visión familiar no era tal.. como creía.
Es una novela que no te deja indiferente...no hay héroes, ni "buenas personas"; se relatan crudamente situaciones de tráfico, trata, muerte -matar; sin escatimar en descripciones bizarrisimas, (de a momentos.. a mi parecer, en demasía), y con un lenguaje coloquial, bien argentinizado, mezclado con el guaraní (aca me perdía un poco..), haciendo de esta una lectura "pintorezca".
No es mi preferido del autor.. pero sí es fiel a su estilo, haciendo de esta, una novela agíl y entretenida.
Donde el protagonista, portador de un apellido que arrastra una historia de flia; como minimo, NEGRÍSIMA, se ve forzado a ser participe de situaciones descarnadas, gore nivel diosss, para terminar de descubrir que su visión familiar no era tal.. como creía.
Es una novela que no te deja indiferente...no hay héroes, ni "buenas personas"; se relatan crudamente situaciones de tráfico, trata, muerte -matar; sin escatimar en descripciones bizarrisimas, (de a momentos.. a mi parecer, en demasía), y con un lenguaje coloquial, bien argentinizado, mezclado con el guaraní (aca me perdía un poco..), haciendo de esta una lectura "pintorezca".
No es mi preferido del autor.. pero sí es fiel a su estilo, haciendo de esta, una novela agíl y entretenida.
November 15, 2023
Creo que es la primera novela negra que leo y por lo mismo se me hizo un poco cruda. La trama, pues bueno, está en la sinopsis del libro, Tomás tiene que terminar el trabajo pendiente de su hermano Sebastián, quién está en la cárcel y trabajaba para los narcos. Si no lo hace, pueden matar a su cuñada y su sobrina. En el proceso de solucionar el problema se relaciona con Anyelen, quién tiene un desafortunado final. Ella cae en el negocio de las mulas por su hermana.
Los 2 hermanos odiaban a su papá pero Tomás debe recurrir a él para solucionar el problema. Al final el giro dramático no se veía venir.
Es un libro interesante pero eso sí, con mucho gore y también me costó trabajo entender varias palabras locales.
Los 2 hermanos odiaban a su papá pero Tomás debe recurrir a él para solucionar el problema. Al final el giro dramático no se veía venir.
Es un libro interesante pero eso sí, con mucho gore y también me costó trabajo entender varias palabras locales.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2022
Just published by Soho Press.
Ferraro pays homage to many crime writing traditions in his English language debut. Like Michael Corleone, the mob keeps pulling Tomas Cruz in. The son of the most brutal thug in Argentina, and the brother of a mobster who just screwed up, Tomas is called in to complete his brother’s work. Or else. His brother’s work is not pleasant. This is strong stuff — violence, sex trafficking, drug dealing, child sexual abuse, and too much smoking. It is also propulsive action. Tomas wonders if his moderately straight life has removed him from the world of his father. Like father, like son. Not for the faint of heart.
Ferraro pays homage to many crime writing traditions in his English language debut. Like Michael Corleone, the mob keeps pulling Tomas Cruz in. The son of the most brutal thug in Argentina, and the brother of a mobster who just screwed up, Tomas is called in to complete his brother’s work. Or else. His brother’s work is not pleasant. This is strong stuff — violence, sex trafficking, drug dealing, child sexual abuse, and too much smoking. It is also propulsive action. Tomas wonders if his moderately straight life has removed him from the world of his father. Like father, like son. Not for the faint of heart.
October 7, 2022
Raise crosses and you will have a cemetery.
Short, but packs a punch. Cruz is violent and unflinching, and is a sloping look into a battered criminal underworld and how the sins of the father (literally in this case) ripple out on a family and community.
In truth, there were times when the action began feeling monotonous, and the "grittier" elements often felt so exaggeratedly grotesque that I struggled to suspend my belief. That being said, though, perhaps the ending justifies it.
Candidly, I'm still not quite sure how to feel about this.
February 3, 2024
Hmmm. The plot was alright and fairly interesting but the blurb suggested that the book was going to be more about the main character’s internal struggles over his descent into the violent criminal underworld of Argentina and his relationship with his father. In reality there was a lot of gore and body parts splattered over walls but the characterisation was THIN on the ground. It would have benefitted from this cos I’m just not really buying that Tomas could go from peaceful angel to cold blooded killer in a flash because the #thuglyfe runs in his blood.
February 8, 2021
Es más un 3.8 que un 4 cerrado.
El único problema que encontré fue la inmensa cantidad de jergas argentinas que hay en los capítulos, era claro que estarían ahí, pero hace complicada la lectura y algo lenta, pues, al menos yo, tuve que leer cada párrafo complicado 2 veces para entender lo que Ferraro quería decir e incluso busqué el significado de muchas palabras en internet.
Fuera de eso, considero que la historia es buena e igual los personajes.
El único problema que encontré fue la inmensa cantidad de jergas argentinas que hay en los capítulos, era claro que estarían ahí, pero hace complicada la lectura y algo lenta, pues, al menos yo, tuve que leer cada párrafo complicado 2 veces para entender lo que Ferraro quería decir e incluso busqué el significado de muchas palabras en internet.
Fuera de eso, considero que la historia es buena e igual los personajes.
May 26, 2025
La premisa prometía muchísimo y considero que no llega a llenar las expectativas (al menos las propias). Los personajes y el ambiente del narcotrafico y la prostitucion se me hacen algo caricaturescos y forzados. Al finalizar el libro sentí que fue violencia explícita sin propósito que no llevó a ningún lado. Si bien el personaje termina tomando ciertas decisiones que podemos leer como “transformadoras” o que le abren otro camino queda con bastante gusto a poco ese final.
September 16, 2025
Hay algo insoportable en este texto: los diálogos. Ocurrentes, falsos, inverosímiles, impostados. Muy yankee, como esas películas de Marvel en las que los personajes tiran frases cancheras mientras esquivan balas.Todos, desde el villano a la criatura prostituida. Muy, muy pobre en ese sentido.
La expectativa por el desenlace hace que uno (yo al menos) llegue al final. Bien logradas las escenas de acción, sin embargo. Que no son fáciles de construir. Por eso la segunda estrella.
La expectativa por el desenlace hace que uno (yo al menos) llegue al final. Bien logradas las escenas de acción, sin embargo. Que no son fáciles de construir. Por eso la segunda estrella.
September 25, 2025
Duro relato de una realidad social que sabemos existe. Desde lo literario no me atrapó la historia , por momentos me trajo reminiscencias de Juan Damonte y su “ Chau Papá”
Demasiada violencia y realismo que pasan por encima de la historia en algunos pasajes.
Reconozco valor en la concepción del carácter del personaje principal y la relación con su padre.
Seguramente le daré otra oportunidad a Ferraro , pero esta historia no me gustó.
Demasiada violencia y realismo que pasan por encima de la historia en algunos pasajes.
Reconozco valor en la concepción del carácter del personaje principal y la relación con su padre.
Seguramente le daré otra oportunidad a Ferraro , pero esta historia no me gustó.
November 27, 2022
Won this on goodreads giveaways. It was a really disturbing hard book to read , very graphic . Reading it really churned my stomach. But i enjoyed this book . I don’t think I can read it again. For a long while. But I highly recommend this book . Not for the faint of heart .
August 23, 2023
This gritty crime novel is a must read. I was on the edge of my seat the whole. The writing flows so nicely and is written with the character’s stream of consciousness adding to the suspense. Graphic descriptions of human trafficking and violence were written disturbingly well.
A must read.
A must read.
November 11, 2022
This is a very gritty, dark story. It was hard to read at times because of the violent plot, but I really was compelled to see what happened next.
February 18, 2023
I didn’t love this. I get that takes about cartels and the child sex trade might be a real thing, and he wasn’t overly graphic, but yuck. Not my kind of thriller.
February 23, 2023
I received a free copy in a giveaway. It took me a while to get through this one, but it absolutely deserves 5 stars. The characters are complex and the writing is stellar.
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