Leopard in the Sun

In Laura Restrepo's stunning novel, a feud between two Colombian drug families escalates into a bloody, high-stakes war that will leave no one in its path untouched. The Barragáns and the Monsalves are rival clans, each steeped in wealth and power, each subject only to laws of their own making. The similarities end there. While the Barragáns, headed by the brutal Nando, remain tied to the ancient traditions, the Monsalves grapple with whether or not to follow Mani, their charismatic and conflicted leader, into a modern age in which even fewer rules apply.  As both clans ponder the profits they might reap from an expanding global cocaine trade, Nando and Mani are faced with the consequences of their violent pasts--and forced, by their disillusioned women and the prices on their heads, to reckon with the possibility that nothing will be left once all their bullets have found their targets.
                        
Rife with sensual detail, this epic story of lust, betrayal, and revenge is as timeless as interfamily conflict and as immediate as today's news.

Laura Restrepo has been very active in politics and journalism throughout Latin America and has lived in Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, and Spain. She was professor of literature at the National University of Colombia as well as political editor of the weekly magazine Semana. She is the author of several novels, including El Leopardo al Sol (Leopard in the Sun, forthcoming from Crown). She currently lives in Bogotá, Colombia.