If you enjoy a novel that is fun, sexy, adventurous and absolutely luminous, then \Caramba!: A Tale Told in Turns of the Card"" is just the book for you. Nina Marie Mart??nez shows how Mexican-Americans in southern California can have one hell of a time doing almost anything. Each chapter represents a turn of the cards and each card, as author Mart??nez expresses, is a ""game of chance.""
In the beginning we are introduced to the players, who range from day laborers to whores to evangelical mariachi musicians, all of whom live spontaneous and entertaining lives. Lava Landing is the city in which they reside, and it is also a dormant volcano. However, these characters lives are far from dormant.
Nat and Sway, the two best friends, have a mission to free Sway's father from purgatory but the only problem is no one wants to free a ghost that was hated in real life. Javier, a mariachi musician, devotes his entire life to Christ and teaching it to others. He has a mother who is the opposite, willing to sell her soul to the devil and sleep with the entire town. Javier also falls in love with a girl who is a whore but who has also spent her time in jail. Now, the question is-can he follow his beliefs over his sexual tension?
Next we have Tru-Dee, a transvestite, who tries to find herself as a woman while dealing with the reactions from men after they have been aroused by her.
All the characters lives seem to encounter stressful events that many of us are able to relate to, however, they all do know how to let loose and have a good time in a way that would make any of us envious. This book is as smooth and invigorating as a strong shot of tequila.
""Caramba!: A Tale Told in Turns of the Card"" is published by Alfred A. Knopf.
