Fear Is Just a Word: A Missing Daughter, a Violent Cartel, and a Mother’s Quest for Vengeance by Azam Ahmed
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This true life story of a woman who fought the Zeta gang in San Fernando, Mexico is both inspiring and disheartening at times. It’s heartbreaking to see how criminals prey successfully on ordinary citizens with rarely any consequences. It must be a terrible place to live. The heroine of the story, Miriam Rodriguez, lost a daughter to the gang violence. The daughter was kidnapped, then ransomed, then beaten and killed despite the fact the ransom was paid. Miriam went on a vengeance rampage and was successful in getting many of the gang incarcerated and some killed by the Mexican army. I read this only because it was chosen by my book club, and I can’t recommend it. The writing is terribly repetitive and disorganized. The many Zetas and police and how or what they did were identified and explained over and over again. The storyline jumped back and forth as new details about past events emerged. It was almost impossible to keep track of who was dead or incarcerated at any point in the narrative. The beginning was mostly history of the area and backstory on some of the people involved, but was rather boring. Part two is where the action begins, and it becomes action-filled quickly. To avoid spoilers, I won’t say more.