Pacific Reaper by Carmen Amato

Alt="pacific reaper"Pacific Reaper (Detective Emilia Cruz Book 5)

by Carmen Amato

Imagine if you were the first and only female police detective in Acapulco. Cartels and corruption are everywhere. Life gets cheaper every day.

You discover murder victims sacrificed to Santa Muerte, Mexico’s forbidden saint of death.

Other bodies swing from billboards.

Will you investigate? Or be cursed?

In the remote Coyuca Lagoon reserve, Detective Emilia Cruz Emilia and her partner Franco Silvio find an elaborate altar to Santa Muerte next to the body of a known gang member. Prayers to the so-called Skeleton Saint send a warning to the death saint’s enemies.

Gang warfare quickly sweeps across Acapulco. Mutilated bodies, public messages, and more altars panic the city.

The police investigation is soon a maze of unholy clues. At the same time, everyone close to Emilia has a brush with death. Bad luck? Or is the Skeleton Saint’s curse coming true?

From a beachfront hostel to a voodoo market, the more Emilia discovers, the worse things get. When she goes undercover as a Santa Muerte worshipper on the eve of the Day of the Dead, her life will be stripped of everything she holds dear.

Her family.

Her lover.

Her job.

Her soul.

Review:

Acapulco Detective Emilia Cruz lives in an opulent, luxurious high-rise right on the sandy beach, run by her boyfriend Kurt. She’s living in a lavish beautiful part of her city.

She is smart, quick and beautiful. She is also a cop in a mega violent world trying to solve murders amongst rival drug cartels, corrupt politicians and her own fellow police officers.

The plot begins when Emilia and her partner discover a beheaded El Machete member. The body is surrounded by Santa Muerte images, muertos figurines and talismans, a death worshipping cult. Readers are then taken inside Mexico’s drug war where it’s a tangled weave of corruption, murder and supernatural encounters. Acapulco is breathtaking, but it’s also a deadly city where the drug lords have everyone in their pockets.

Emilia has her work cut out for her. And when her colleagues begin to have accidents, she begins to fear that the curse of Santa Muerte, the forbidden saint of death, may be targeting them. And that she and her partner, Silvo, are in real danger. Her detective skills kick into high alert as she forges ahead to solve the murders.

Pacific Reaper is a brilliant character driven detective story. It has a creative and well written multifaceted storyline. It holds the reader’s attention from the beginning to the end. It is enthralling and fascinating. It is well thought out and developed

It’s a smart read filled with twists and turns.

The characters are fully developed and interesting. Author Carmen Amato has created characters that are indigenous to the Mexican culture and the drug cartel culture. Very engrossing characters.

Her idea to have a female detective in an all-male agency is refreshing and intriguing.

There are some excellent sideline stories going on too. Like the fact that Emelia takes care of her mother who has lost some mental capacity due to her husband’s death. It adds nicely to the story bringing some sentiment with it.

The descriptions of the country, settings, people and the cultural aspects are beautiful and invigorating. It made me want to go on vacation to Acapulco. Carmen Amato has a way with words and storytelling. I think she out does many of the best crime authors out there.

Pacific Reaper is a fast paced crime and thriller novel. It’s the best detective story I have read in a long time. I loved it and couldn’t put it down-a real page turner. This is a must read 5 star good read.

Pacific Reaper is Book 5 in the DETECTIVE EMILIA CRUZ SERIES.

Get all the DETECTIVE EMILIA CRUZ SERIES novels:

Cliff Diver

Hat Dance

Diablo Nights

King Peso

Pacific Reaper

43 Missing

Made in Acapulco

Purchase Pacific Reaper by Carmen Amato @ Amazon

One comment

  1. Sounds like an intriguing story. I will be buying this one for sure. I sure hope it as great as you make it sound. I am sure it is, as I have bought other books that this book site has suggested and have enjoyed them all.