A review by thebooktrail88
City Without Stars by Tim Baker

5.0

Enter the City without stars here

This is book is like a punch to the gut.

Then a stab in the heart

I have heard and read a lot about cities ravaged by drug cartels in Mexico as a student of Spanish and this really honed in on many of the grittier and unmentionable themes of what drugs and the drug trade means for the man and woman on the street. It's not for the faint hearted - scenes are graphic and unforgiving as is the language. Raw and brutal on every level.

There is some great writing here and even some humour – Felipe for example is described as “MoreMichelin than Goodyear” and his character is one I really enjoyed getting to know. I admired and feared for him and felt very keen to find out more about him and follow his investigation.

The historical and social background to this story however is the real selling point. The massacres and drug wars described in the book may be fictionalised here but they are real. Devastating drug wars and needless, senseless killings of women. It’s a war every day and seeing it evoked so well here in fiction is both frightening and gripping.

Hard hitting and honest. A city ravaged by fear and more. Brutally good.