3 out of 4 stars
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The police have the bodies of three dead high school students in the morgue. The killer discarded their bodies on the street. Now, the cops found the body of a middle school student. The common cause of death was an overdose from a heroin bundle. How are teenagers acquiring this new drug? What role do the MS-13 gang members play in these crimes?
Jeremy Evans is a high school counselor. He is raising three adopted boys. How could this close-knit family have any connection with MS-13? Can Jeremy keep his boys safe?
Caught in a Web, by Joseph Lewis is a novel that follows two storylines. These two narratives eventually intertwine in a masterful way. The first deals with the family. Jeremy is about to adopt more children. The second narrative reveals how illegal drugs are impacting the schools and the family.
Character development in this book is phenomenal. The author takes the time to give the main characters a great deal of depth. Jeremy’s adopted boys have emotional difficulties. We learn what happened in their past to cause these problems.
Lewis develops the character of George with special care. He is a full-blooded Navajo teenager and is one of Jeremy’s adopted sons. The author presents specific details about Navajo traditions and beliefs. Lewis does an excellent job of integrating Navajo culture into the story.
The cities of Waukesha and Milwaukee, WI, are an ideal setting for this story. The author demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the area. He identifies the drug and gun running corridor extending from Chicago to upper Wisconsin. It would be helpful to include a map of the 1-94 and I-43 corridors. People who are not from Wisconsin may not be familiar with cities such as Kenosha or Sturgeon Bay. His description of how drugs have infiltrated the educational institutions is also quite accurate.
The book consists of one hundred and four chapters. Each chapter is short and concise. I thought this kept the story moving. Every section delivers specific details. The dialogues also reflect the speech and themes particular to teenage boys and gang members.
I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. Personally, the only drawback of the book was the grammar mistakes. The plot and the writing style intrigued me. The revelation of the suppliers was surprising and infuriating. Jeremy’s family values motivate and inspire. I would recommend this book to all high school counselors and teachers. Parents of teens and pre-teens could learn about gangs, drug use, and drug slang from this book. People who prefer mystery and suspense would enjoy this story. Readers are warned that the book does contain graphic violence and some sexual scenes.
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Caught in a Web
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