Customer Reviews

Do They Know I'm Running?: A Novel (Mortalis)

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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.

It took me a while to open the book; I needed to be ready for the rough
and emotional ride.
But I'm glad I did. I finished reading /Do They Know I'm Running/ about
three weeks ago. And somehow Lupe and Roque
and Tio Faustino and the rancher and his wife still stay with me. I love
it when characters do that.
It took me a long time to accept that sometimes you don't know what
happens to them later, but the fact that you wonder means they're real.

Wow. If there is a better thriller out there, someone please let me know. Like "No Country for Old Men" (which I love) but with better characters, sharper writing, and a more convincing and compelling plot. This is the "other side," what gets lost in the immigration debate; it's the story of real people, broken but somehow still hopeful, lost in the shadows chasing that impossible American Dream. Corbett doesn't sugarcoat, doesn't placate, and isn't interested in playing by "commercial" rules. His characters are both ugly and beautiful, capable of extreme selfishness and sacrifice, almost in the same breath. In short, they are real. The book tackles immigration, terrorism, and patriotism, and somehow does so in an understated way. It's the story of a couple Mexican cousins, Happy and Godo, who've fought in a hypocritical war only to return banged up and unwanted, and who put their new "skills" to use to fix their fractured family, sending the darling baby of the family, Roque, across the border to fetch his uncle who's been deported. How tough could it be? Pretty d*mn tough. No one, nothing are what they seem. From the double dealing US government to the unspeakable inhumanities of the drug lords and cartels on the human smuggling pipeline, "Running" plays out like a frantic game of hide and seek, taking the reader down Mexico's dusty roads and into the cracks of an America many will never see. With an ending that is spot-on perfect. As flawless as it gets. And Corbett even manages to squeeze in a love story that cuts and lingers long after the book is put down. And what makes "Running" such a rare treat is the writing itself, which too often in mysteries is relegated to an afterthought. Here, the prose reads poetic and poignant; it's lyrical and rhythmic, stark and illumining, with lines that will break your heart. If this novel doesn't win major awards or isn't optioned into a Blockbuster, I lose what little faith I have left in the arts. "Do They Know I'm Running?" is the real deal, the best book you will read all year.

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

One of the best novels I read last year was The Devil's Redhead by Northern California author David Corbett. Just recently, he's presented highbrow thriller fans another literate, emotional, and gritty nail biter entitled Do They Know I'm Running?, a novel that goes behind the demagogue-dominated debate about immigration into a complex, ambiguous, and suspenseful portrait of the treacherous world of human smuggling. It's an exciting story that rings with more truth about this issue than anything coming out of most of today's media.

The rest of this review can be found at my web page at the Red Room web site for Writers:

[..]

Thomas Burchfield
Author of the supernatural novel Dragon's Ark, due out at Halloween from Ambler House
Author of the comic screenplay Whackers, available at Smashwords.com.
Follow me at the Red Room, Facebook, and Twitter
For editing services, see my page at the Bay Area Editors' Forum
(510) 547-1092

Corbett continues to enhance his reputation as one of today's best serious writers with this, his fourth novel. His characters come across as real people while his vivid storytelling brings out layer after layer of the United States' immigration problem as experienced both in the U.S. and other countries. It's a book to be read first for the fast-paced, interlocking stories peopled with many characters readers can empathize with, and second to better understand the issue Corbett brilliantly tackles.

David Corbett's latest novel, Do They Know I'm Running, is as contemporary as today's headlines as it chronicles a hazardous road trip bringing people from Central America across El Salvador and Mexico to the Arizona border. It's a trip fraught with danger and few moments of lightheartedness. But the well drawn characters make it a compelling read.

Rocque Montalvo, an 18 year old musician, lives in a trailer with Tia Lucha, Tio Faustino, and Godo, his older brother who suffers from PTSD after a tour in Iraq. After Faustino is deported to El Salvador following a raid, Rocque is sent to bring him back to northern California. Faustino's son and Rocque's cousin Pablo "Happy" Orantes has a plan and has provided funds for bribing the gangs and drug cartels that operate in the area. Happy has managed to get money from the FBI and from a moving company scam. At the last moment, he tells Rocque he will also be bringing back Samir, a Palestinian who had saved Happy's life in Iraq. And in El Salvador, Rocque is forced to also transport Lupe, a young singer, to Mexico as a gift for a drug lord.

There are double crosses and demands for more money and no one can be trusted. There are vehicular chase scenes, angry tarantulas, and senseless violence. But the author has told a gripping, gritty story with unexpected touches of humanity. All of the senses are engaged and there's definitely a "you are there" feeling.

This is not a story to be read quickly. It requires concentration as the various layers are peeled back. The payoff is well worth the ride.

This is an excellent novel--very well written with memorable characters and a gripping tale of human trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border. The story focuses on an extended family of immigrants, some of whom are legally in the U.S. and others of whom are not.

The central character is Roque Montalvo, a talented young musician. The family is living a hard-scabble existence in California when Roque's uncle is arrested by immigration agents and deported. This throws the family into crisis and Rogue, who is an American citizen, is charged with the responsibility of going to El Salvador and smuggling the uncle back to the U.S.

In the meantime Roque's brother, a damaged veteran of the war in Iraq and their cousin struggle to raise the money that will be necessary to pay the gangs, corrupt police and others who control the human smuggling route that stretches from El Salvador through Guatemala and Mexico before reaching the U.S.

Inevitably, things go wildly amiss for everyone involved and tragedy piles upon tragedy. This is not a book that will raise your spirits and leave you with a happy smile on your face. But those readers who would appreciate some insight into the problem of illegal immigration that goes beyond the simple-minded sloganeering of some politicians and others, will find this an eye-opening book.

Read in tandem with Don Winslow's great book "The Power of the Dog," the two books will break your heart and will convince you that the politicians haven't a clue when it comes to dealing with the complex problems that bedevil the southern border of the United States.

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.