Families are falling apart in this well-written tale featuring Hilde, a 14-year-old farm girl. Her mother Jasmine drags the kids to California, leaving their father behind in Wisconsin. Meanwhile two desperate Hispanic men, Joaquin and Fernando, try to sneak across America’s southern border. What unites these storylines is Gabriel, a migrant who works part-time on Jasmine’s goat farm while waiting for Joaquin to join him.

Despite Hilde’s love of animals and her friendship with a benevolent evangelist, conditions worsen under Jasmine’s incompetence and her flirtation with a self-righteous rancher. While Hilde’s brother Ethan works for a shady café owner, Joaquin and Fernando risk starvation, danger and deportation during their trek across harsh desert country.

The author is obviously well informed about the plights of fractured families, both American and Central American. Although sinister forces scheme to take advantage of both, kind-hearted Samaritans occasionally come to the rescue so that Hilde, Joaquin and Fernando have hopes on which to build their futures. Whether they will succeed is the question that keeps us turning the pages.

Pescadero is a novel of idealism. I wish those ideals had included consideration for the reader, who has to wade through offensive language and an unnatural sexual relationship to appreciate the story. I hope Hollis Brady will exercise greater discretion in the future.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.