GRINGA - In The Clutches Of A Ruthless Drug-Lord (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
Okay. I want to review all four books in this series in one review since the entire story spans all four books. These are full books, not novellas, with each book a little longer than the last. However, no matter how many pages, the book reads quickly, because you can't put it down.Gringa- In the Clutches of a Ruthless Drug Lord is the story of Payton who, while on a family vacation in Mexico, is shot by Diablo, a ruthless drug lord. After he shoots her, he throws her off of a cliff and into the sea. Well, she survives because, well, it would be a pretty short story if she didn't. Payton is very likable, her family, not so much. When Payton returns to the village, she encounters her family. They are shocked, but not terribly excited by her return. The day of her return, she encounters Diablo again. He is surprised that she is alive, and she is pissed for obvious reasons. Feeling she has nothing to lose, Payton gets in his face and tells him off. Diablo threatens to burn down the village if Payton does not return to his home with him and his HORRIBLE family. After hearing the pleas of the people in the village, she decides to go with him. After returning to his home, she is ignored by Diablo during dinner, and his "mother," who is a total bitch from hell, and his "sister," who we soon discover he is sleeping with, make fun of her and threaten her. As she is getting ready for bed that night, Diablo enters her room and has sex with her against her will. Over the next few nights he does the same, and she just lays there and blocks it out. While swimming at the rock pool, she is confronted by thirteen FBI agents and their guns. They persuade her to meet with them the following day. She tells Diablo she wants a massage, so he sends her (with one of his men) into town. While the guard waits, she meets with FBI agents Depp and Grey. They talk her into planting listening devices in Diablo's home and getting close to him so that he will talk about certain crimes that he has committed.When she returns, she decides to butter him up, so she dresses sexy and attends dinner with "the family." Diablo is unable to take his eyes off of her, and she decides to go to her room and prepare for his next visit. While getting ready for bed, Diablo barges in and rips her clothes off. Then, he... well, it's not good. After this incident, she withdraws, and he notices.At this point, I will only touch on the important events in the story. Since I am reviewing more than one book in this review, I don't want to go into too much detail with the rest of the story, as that would spoil the first three of the four novels.After Diablo and Payton have a violent confrontation at dinner one night, EVERYTHING changes.Payton learns that his real name is Diago, and what she believes about him is not true, or at least, there are reasons why he is the man he is at this time in the story.They slowly form a bond, and even though she is still working with the FBI, she feels guilty. She finally gets him to open up about the specific crimes the federal agents wanted to hear about, but she is not wearing her listening device. Eventually, this story turns into a shit storm of activity that will stress out the reader, if that particular reader happens to be emotionally involved in the goings-on of the characters.Told from Payton's POV, the narration is hilarious and real. I fell in love with Payton in the first chapter. There are a handful of lovable characters and more than a handful of characters the reader will love to hate.The Gringa books are funny, refreshing, entertaining, and sweet. I wasn't expecting too much from the first book. I had never heard of the books or the author. I was sucked in, and after the sort of cliffhanger at the end of the first book, I had to see this story through to the end.I recommend this series to anyone wanting to read something new and refreshing. I don't consider this a book about a woman with Stockholm Syndrome at all. It does not seem like that when reading it. I consider this a love story about a young woman who finds out just how strong she is and a man who needs real love in the worst way. Okay, I'm really not sure of what to say because most of my disappointment is a result of being misguided by the blurb I read on this book which I am well aware that authors many times do not have control over. I'm conflicted in rating the story because it was not poorly written; it was just not for me so I'd probably give it Three stars for the writing content, but only one if it were about liking. I'll split the different to average both into the equation.Here's the deal. This story would not have been a book that I chose to read if I had known what it was truly about- again, misleading blurb. It wasn't for me and that had nothing to do with the author's writing talent, character development, plot or anything like that- that all seemed fine- okay well, only the main character was truly developed and a few of the secondary characters like the mountain healers, but the bad guys even Diablo were one dimensional. I did the author the courtesy of finishing the serial installments that were part of my download, but I did not enjoy it. I thought this would be some sort of gritty Perils of Pauline style story. I liked the idea of a tough talking heroine in mortal danger and having to live by her wits to extricate herself. And the story did start that way. I also had some mental picture of a Beauty and the Beast style romance where the bad guy took the heroine and she is able to change him. And maybe that happens in the next installment. I'm not so certain I would find a romance between the two a good thing now because you see- in this installment the guy is pure evil and commits rape and murder without coercion or remorse and that is just not my idea of a hero. And I really didn't see even a spark of romance in this story so I'm not sure it should even be classified as such- again, misleading.So, this is a cautionary review that the blurb is misleading and that this would not appeal to those who have trouble with dubious or non-consent sexual scenes.
What do You think about GRINGA - In The Clutches Of A Ruthless Drug-Lord (2000)?
Well, who would have thunk it! The crazy rapist is actually growing on me. And Payton is perking up.
—Elna
Never a dull moment ,sleepless in Texas tonight on to book 3 lol
—GassyMexican
