Customer Reviews

The Immigrant: A Novel

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a plot that could have been drawn from recent headlines, eleven-year-old Ignacio Narvaez's family is ripped apart through an escalading series of disastrous events that begin when his father seeks a better future for the family by sneaking into the United States from Mexico. Unfortunately along the way his older sister is separated from the group, placed in the dubious care of the Madame of a high-end bordello, and grievously injured while diving out of a moving limousine to escape. Jimbob, the coyote who was hired to smuggle them across the border, drinks half a dozen beers, makes a wrong-way turn, and crashes his pickup truck into an eighteen-wheeler. While everyone else in the vehicle dies in the fiery explosion, Ignacio is thrown clear during the crash only to find himself in the indifferent care of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service.

Take a young child who doesn't speak English yet finds himself suddenly lost and alone in America, add an empathic immigration attorney who wants to take care of him, and mix in a few desperate smugglers, dangerous cartel thugs, and twelve million dollars worth of illegal "blood" diamonds and you'd think you would have the makings of a pretty decent thriller. While the plot's all there, a gaping hole remains in this book: characterization. Readers cannot bond with the one-dimensional, uninspiring characters, so everything else becomes meaningless.

Take for example Megan, the immigration attorney. Her motivation for risking her career, cheating the system in order to take custody of an orphan she has just met, and risking her life to tangle with desperate criminals is that Ignacio is the spitting image of her six-year-old brother Alex who she was unable to save from drowning in the family pool when she was ten. Beyond the fact that this impetus is superficial, she tells her boyfriend Jeff about the incident in a single paragraph on page 31. Using the old adage of "show; don't tell," something this important to the story should have been in the prologue, or perhaps, played out as a flashback or a dream sequence. As it stands, however, there is no emotional impact from the incident whatsoever.

And then there's Jeff. It is difficult to understand why he is even in the book. While his role could have facilitated compelling tension with Megan, building both characters throughout the story, he essentially just follows her around like a lost puppy. For example, while Megan and Jeff have lived together and Ignacio's presence ignites Megan's "nesting instinct," providing impetus for the old "where is our relationship going" routine, this issue quickly fizzles to unimportance when Jeff near instantly agrees to everything she wants. Furthermore, even though he recently earned a partnership in his law firm, another relationship crisis is averted when he is able to take a sabbatical with no advanced notice.

No character is particularly strong, though most of the minor ones are at least somewhat believable. Nevertheless, it's challenging to enjoy or even finish reading a book with retched characterization like this one.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Blinded by the Night, among other titles

Note: Originally reviewed for Clarion Reviews

Dr. Clark does an excellent job of giving an audience that ordinarily looks at immigration issues from one view point the opportunity to open themselves to another tragic view. Concise, compelling and packed with the energy of urgency. You will have a hard time putting this timely tale down. No fantasy here, if you live within 200 miles of the Mexican border this is happening all around you; you just don't see it!

This was entertaining from start to finish- lots of interesting twists and turns. I like the characters and the emphasis on immigration issues. I'm eager to read another Clark novel!

This is an absolutely amazing story with lots of twists and turns. It was one of those books that was difficult to put down. Definitely a "must read". Eventhough the "Trails to Dos Encinos" series was my favorite...."The Immigrant" was even better! Keep 'em coming Dr. Clark!