Marilyn's Mystery Reads

Book Author: Eli Cranor

The major employer in  Springdale, Arkansas is the Denmer Foods chicken plant.  In it, hundreds of employees labor for ten hours a day, five days a week, under abysmal conditions.  Employees need the permission of the line boss to use the bathroom, which he may or may not give; they do the same repetitive motions on the line all day long, resulting in swollen and aching fingers and joints; they work in the 40 degree temperature necessary to prevent the growth of bacteria.

Gabriela Menchaca and Edwin Saucero are two of the line workers, immigrants from Mexico who arrived in the States as children, without documentation.  Now adults, they have been working at the plant for seven years, living in an old trailer that had belonged to Gabriela’s parents before they returned to Mexico, having given up on the American dream.

The pair met in high school where Gabriela was an outstanding student and Edwin was just about getting by, but they have been working hard and saving their salaries for the future.  Or so Gabriella thinks, until the day their landlord comes to collect the three months rent they owe, and she realizes that her trust in Edwin has been misplaced.

Across town are Luke and Mimi Jackson, living a life as different from Gabby and Edwin’s as it’s possible to imagine.  Their custom built, five thousand square foot house sits on acres of land as befits Luke’s position as the presumptive plant manager.  On the surface the two families’ circumstances have nothing in common, but in both cases there are money problems, deceit, and a desire for more than they have.

What brings the Menchaca/Saucero/Jackson families into the same orbit is six-month-old Tuck Jackson.  He is Mimi and Luke’s long-awaited son, but his arrival has brought problems to the surface for his parents.  Mimi is a stay-at-home mother, and she’s a bundle of anxiety and fears.  Her husband is barely around, hardly cognizant of his son, and actually isn’t sure of the child’s birthday.

Then there is a series of events that include Tuck’s parents accidentally grabbing the other’s bag during their hurried morning routines, Mimi rushing into the plant to exchange her husband’s briefcase for her backpack, and Edwin having been fired by Luke moments before.

As he leaves the plant, Edwin sees a sobbing baby left in the Jacksons’ car for the minute it takes Mimi to get in and out of her husband’s office.  In a move that he cannot explain even to himself, Edwin gets into the car and drives away with Tuck.

Thus are four lives changed forever.

Eli Cranor has written a thriller that is truly spellbinding.  His characters are real, and he makes even the most unpleasant and unlikeable human and understandable.  In addition, his searing portrayal of the divide between the lives of the factory workers and those of their bosses will make readers flinch at the inequities of life in our country.

You can read more about the author at this website.

Check out the complete Marilyn’s Mystery Reads at her website.  In addition to book review posts, there are sections featuring Golden Oldies, Past Masters and Mistresses, and an About Marilyn column that features her opinions about everything to do with mystery novels.