Do They Know I'm Running?: A Novel

By David Corbett

Caught up in a scheme to smuggle his deported uncle back across the border, a young American must fight to save his family, himself, and the woman he loves .

At eighteen, Roque Montalvo is a gifted guitarist and a hit with women, but the rest of his life is a struggle. Orphaned at birth and scraping by in a rough Northern California town, he helps support his hardworking aunt and tends to his ex-marine brother -- a physical and emotional wreck after his tour in Iraq. Then, to make matters worse, his uncle gets snared in a workplace raid and federal immigration agents deport him back to El Salvador.

When Montalvo's loose-cannon cousin, himself a former deportee, shows up unannounced, he draws Montalvo into a scheme to rescue his uncle and bring him back home. It's a perilous undertaking in the best of cases, now that gangs and organized crime control the smuggling routes, and the risk ratchets higher when Montalvo learns he'll be transporting not just his uncle, but also a Palestinian refugee and a young beauty destined for the clutches of a fierce Mexican crime boss. A gritty, realistic, and unforgettable adventure where all borders are tested, Do They Know I'm Running? tightropes the perilous line between menace and hope, danger and home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784083724

David Corbett

David Corbett is the author of four previous novels: The Devil’s Redhead, Done for a Dime (a New York Times Notable Book), Blood of Paradise (nominated for numerous awards, including the Edgar), and Do They Know I’m Running? In January 2013 he published a comprehensive textbook on the craft of characterization, The Art of Character. His short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, with pieces twice selected for the book series Best American Mystery Stories. His nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, Narrative, MovieMaker, Bright Lights, Writer’s Digest, and numerous other venues. For more, visit www.davidcorbett.com.

Reviews for Do They Know I'm Running?

[col2910_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis/blurb........From acclaimed author David Corbett, a stunning and suspenseful novel of a life without loyalties and the borders inside ourselves. Roque Montalvo is wise beyond his eighteen years. Orphaned at birth, a gifted musician, he’s stuck in a California backwater, helping his Salvadoran aunt care for his damaged brother, an ex-marine badly wounded in Iraq. When immigration agents arrest his uncle, the family has nowhere else to turn. Roque, badgered by his street-hardened cousin, agrees to bring the old man back, relying on the criminal gangs that control the dangerous smuggling routes from El Salvador, through Guatemala and Mexico, to the U.S. border. But his cousin has told Roque only so much. In reality, he will have to transport not just his uncle but two others: an Arab whose intentions are disturbingly vague and a young beauty promised to a Mexican crime lord. Roque discovers that his journey involves crossing more than one kind of border, and he will be asked time and again to choose between survival and betrayal—of his country, his family, his heart.I wouldn’t say this was the best book I have ever read, but it was enjoyable, interesting and informative, which is all I pretty much ask from any piece of fiction I read. Corbett shows us life in the US post-9/11 from the viewpoint of the outsiders and disenfranchised. Roque Montalvo and his half-brother Godo, a damaged Iraq war veteran are citizens living with their Salvadoran aunt in California. Godo is suffering PTSD from his tour which he survived with horrific facial burns and mental scarring. Roque is playing his music, drifting along, earning some money but without any real responsibility or direction in his life. Their aunt and uncle eke out an existence on the breadline working in a supermarket and trucking loads respectively. When his uncle is deported back to El Salvador after being arrested in a raid by immigration, the brothers’ cousin, Happy, enlists Roque’s help to get him back in the country. Happy having been previously deported and having returned successfully to the States himself, after paying feared Salvadoran gang, Mara Salvatrucha for passage through Guatemala and Mexico, is confident the same people traffickers can bring Tio Faustino back. Roque out of a sense of duty towards family goes south to start a perilous trek back with his uncle and a couple of other hostages to fortune. Happy having arranged this end of the deal, hedges his bets by involving the same immigration guy that was involved in the original deportation. One of his uncle’s travelling companions is a Palestinian that Happy knew in Iraq when he was working out there. Samir Sadiq’s motives for infiltration into the US are unknown and worthy of being used as a bartering chip with the Feds to secure his own and his uncle’s permanent citizenship. The other transportee is Lupe, a Salvadoran singer and beauty due for delivery to a Mexican drug-lord en route.Pretty straightforward then, until Happy and his cousin get crossed by the MS-13’s, setting off a chain of violent events both north and south of the border. Roque’s developing feelings for Lupe brings him into conflict with Samir at a time when the four travellers only have each other to trust and depend upon.Immigration, drugs, war, security, terrorism, borders, people trafficking, renegade gun dealers, violence, betrayal, family loyalties and death all figure as Roque, Tio, Lupe and Samir continue the perilous journey north. My verdict; I found it interesting, engaging, though provoking and intelligent. Decent people facing harsh realities with little control over their fate pitted against faceless bureaucrats and violent gangsters happy to cause carnage and inflict death without regret, both pursuing their set agendas.4 stars from 5This is the author’s fourth book, originally published in 2010 and was my first taste of David Corbett. I will be reading more form Corbett in the future. His earlier books are listed below:The Devil's Redhead (2002)Done for a Dime (2003)Blood of Paradise (2007)I was sent a copy of this book by an internet friend from New York, who loved it. Cheers Mantan!

[magnumpigg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent novelization on the current Latino immigrant issue occurring in present day U.S. Makes a wonderful companion piece with Don Winslow’s *The Power of the Dog.* In-depth characters, intense drama and eye-opening insight.