Operation Durango Connection

Rating:
Summary: Can't Put it Down True Crime Novel
Review: If you liked the movie Traffic, you will love Operation Durango Connection, which draws a 360 degree picture of this modern day drug dilemma. The characters are extremely well drawn, showing both the good and bad sides of all. The drug kinpin , Angel Herrara, whom I could see played in a movie version by Antonio Banderas, is a charming rogue with a taste for young Hispanic women. One in particular, Jenny, gets him in a major bind.

The primary law enforcement agent, Joe Fruin, loses some of his professionalism, but remains a sympathetic character. Matt Gavin, the defense lawyer hired to help Angel is, likewise, a complex character, whose frustration with the corrupt judicial system is easily recognized. My only criticism to the book is that yummy Matt Gavin and his beautiful lady, Trisha, are not introduced earlier in the story. Their relationship is contemporary and compelling and takes place in tandem with the war on drugs.

One thing the movie Traffic did not show was the grinding poverty that makes growing drugs for profit very understandable. OPC depicts life in the hills around Durango with all its beauty and tradegy. The scenes are graphic and realistic, as are the courtroom dramas. This book is a good, fast-paced read, one that will have you craving a motion picture version.