Do They Know I'm Running?

Do They Know I'm Running is absolutely outstanding. It is a beautifully written, at times lyrical, work which tells a universally human story of family, love, and loyalty against a backdrop which is not only timely, but which is also important to know more about. David Corbett vividly paints the picture of the terrible price involved in trying to cross the Mexican border into the United States. And he does so in a way which informs without preaching. A real highlight of David Corbett's writing is his characters. Every character is fully fleshed out and fully real. Every one of them has his/her own well-written history, which informs the present, and his/her own distinctive voice. Some of these histories, such as Tio Faustino's, are told through anecdotes which are beautiful standalone vignettes. And one example of how complex and multi-layered his characters are is that the rancher and his wife, who appear for less than 20 pages of the 450-page book, have a a whole heart-breaking story of their own. I highly recommend Do They Know I'm Running, as well as David Corbett's other three books--The Devil's Redhead, Done for a Dime, and Blood of Paradise.

A well-researched story of what it takes to get across our border. Corbett vividly captures what must be going on along the border today; where absolute corruption is corrupting damn near (but not quite) everybody. I read this book back in March, but parts of it have stayed with me to this day (April 30). It's an important book to read because it brings into focus much of the complexity of the immigration issue while telling a very compelling, human story of ordinary people living through extraordinary adventures.

David Corbett writes tough, compassionate thrillers set in the real world. His latest is no exception. Life has not been kind to the Montalvo brothers, orphaned young and living with their Salvadoran aunt in Northern California. Roque is a talented young guitarist stumbling toward manhood. Godo is a shell of himself following his tour with the Marines in Iraq. Their situation only becomes more difficult when their uncle Faustino is deported. Roque agrees to travel to El Salvador and bring Faustino back along a treacherous route controlled by criminal gangs. Godo stays behind to work with their criminal cousin Happy, who has organized Faustino's return. Both soon discover that Happy has an agenda all his own, one that will force Roque to take others on his journey. Do They Know I'm Running? is written with a reporter's eye and a poet's heart. It's wildly ambitious, packed with richly detailed characters, showing how distant spots on the globe from Central America to the Middle East are inextricably connected. Its vast scope occasionally threatens to become sprawl, but Corbett always narrows his focus at exactly the right time to the things that matter: the obligations we all shoulder, the burdens we choose to ignore, the unspoken commitments to our loved ones. That intense interest in the human costs of 21st century life has produced a terrific, heartbreaking book that's one of the year's best.

I have read all of David Corbett's novels to date. The most recent two show improvement over a very impressive debut, The Devil's Redhead. He understands the drug cartels, the dilemma of honest people trying to provide for their families and has an ear for street Spanish. He has gotten raves from the likes of George Pellicanos, and has been rightly compared to Graham Green. These are literary thrillers of the best kind, educational and yet enough violence to satisfy Quentin Tarantino. A better comparison might be a recent Mexican movie about an epic flight by refugees across the country, Sin Nombre. He makes you care deeply about his musician hero and his girlfriend, and the rest of the characters, including the hero's family members and various law enforcement figures operate in a hell on earth. David Corbett is the real deal; he will shake you and make you care. He is under-appreciated, but is at the very top level in terms of literary merit.

During one of those INS sweeps in the Oakland port area, Faustino is picked up as an illegal alien. The Feds deport him back to El Salvadore leaving behind in their usual family values way his dependents to include his wife Lucha, his criminal son Pablo (AKA Happy) and his orphaned nephews eighteen year old Roque and disturbed war veteran Godo. Using his contacts Happy works a deal with human smugglers to bring his father home to California. However, to pay the exorbitant price, he works another deal with the FBI. He sends Roque to El Salvadore to escort his Da back to the family; but the gang involved demand he also escort teenage Lupe to a Mexican drug lord and a Palestinian allegedly seeking political asylum as arranged by Happy to further muck up the trek from Central American to the States. Roque knows whenever dealing with Happy one learns the rest of the story trying to survive. This is a strong thriller that tells the other side of the illegal immigrant story from that of a family mostly through Roque who struggles to keep alive his charges as they trek through a violent Central America and Mexico on the mule trail. The story line is action-packed but character driven as the hero finds himself caught in several nasty scenarios in which he must constantly choose between love (for Lupe and for his family) and survival as bartering humans is a way of life on this wagon trail. Harriet Klausner