3 out of 4 stars
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The Cartel Cruser by Dan E. Hendrickson is a crime, thriller, mystery novel set in Mexico and its environs. The story revolves around a young woman, Marnia Gonzalez, who is disturbed by the atrocities that ordinary citizens experience at the hands of the cartel and she vows to devote her life to destroy the monsters behind these organizations.
Although she comes from an upper-class family, her privileged upbringing doesn't stop her from chasing her dream of correcting society's ills (against her father's wishes). Her father, Mr. Gonzales is the president of Mexico and having his daughter join the military isn't a good look for his administration. After much persistence, Marnia enlists in the army, works hard, graduates top of her class, and at her new job at the anti-cartel task force, she fights crime with a vengeance, sparing no one and making many enemies along the way, earning her the nickname "The Catrel Crusher."
Overall, the author did an excellent job bringing this story to life with an exciting plot, vivid action scenes and terrifying murder and rape scenes. The suspense build-up had me flipping the pages, and each shocking revelation left me glued to the story. The twists and turns wound up beautifully to bring the book to a climatic end, motivating me to follow up on the rest of the series, as this is the second installment of The Last Enemy series.
Throughout the story, the author explores the themes of massive corruption, crime, elitism, and cross-border cartel dealings. All these seem to be the norm, and anyone who dares to step on the toes of the ruling class is in grave danger. Although the author narrates the story through the eyes of the elite and the members of the cartel, it would've been a welcome change to see how ordinary citizens are affected by the lawlessness that prevails in their society.
I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about reading the second book in a series without reading the first, but I can attest that this book reads as a stand-alone. The only downside is that for such a short book, it contains many characters and I often had trouble keeping up.
As much as I enjoyed this story, I must point out that I encountered a few typos, mostly being extra spacing between words and words with missing letters. Although they didn't detract from the storyline, they are easily fixable with a round of editing. I'll, therefore, award this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars and recommend it to adults who crave a good read from the C/T/M/H genre.
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The Cartel Crusher
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