Carmen and Grace

In Coss Aquino’s heartrending debut, two cousins become ensnared with a powerful Bronx drug trafficker. Grace, a college-educated young woman who deals drugs for powerful kingpin Doña “Durka” Rodriguez, emerges as the crew’s new putative drug lord after Durka is killed by competing traffickers. In flashbacks, Grace recounts how Durka rescued her at 14 from a neglectful, crack-addicted mother and adopted her, providing a stable home, private school education, car, and other trappings of a middle-class life. At 16, Grace begins handling drug deliveries for Durka and reconnects with her cousin Carmen, who still lives in the neglect and poverty Grace escaped. Grace draws Carmen into the drug trade, though Carmen drops out of high school and forgets about college, thanks to the work’s quick cash. The first half prizes plot over character development, leaving the cast to feel somewhat flat until the second half, when, in the aftermath of Durka’s killing, Carmen gets pregnant at 23 with her boyfriend and faces the tough decision of whether to leave the crew and have the baby. Readers who go the distance will be pleased to find a deep exploration of loyalty and the drug trade’s complex relationship to the community. This is worth a look. Agent: Soumeya Roberts, HG Literary. (Apr.)