The critically acclaimed, beloved, and bestselling author of The Club Dumas and The Nautical Chart delivers his most magnificent novel to date.

Few authors inspire the kind of passion that Arturo Pérez-Reverte does. Reviewers, readers, and book-sellers alike have embraced his fiction as the perfect blend of suspense and literary ambition. A global bestseller, he is one of the most admired and widely read authors in the world. And his stunning new novel is his best yet.

A remarkable tale, The Queen of the South spans continents, from the dusty streets of Mexico to the sparkling waters off the coast of Morocco, to Spain and the Strait of Gibraltar. A sweeping story set to the irresistible beat of the drug smugglers' ballads, it encompasses sensuality and cruelty, love and betrayal, as its heroine's story unfolds.

Teresa Mendoza's boyfriend is a drug smuggler the narcos of Sinaloa, Mexico, call "the king of the short runway," because he can get a plane full of coke off the ground in three hundred yards. But in a ruthless business, life can be short, and Teresa even has a special cell phone that Guero gave her along with a dark warning: If that phone rings, it means he's dead, and she'd better run, because they're coming for her next.

Then the call comes.

In order to survive, she will have to say goodbye to the old Teresa, an innocent girl who once entrusted her life to a pinche narco smuggler. She will have to find inside herself a woman who is tough enough to inhabit a world as ugly and dangerous as that of the narcos — a woman she never before knew existed. Indeed, the woman who emerges will surprise even those who know her legend, that of the Queen of the South.

"A thriller with an almost meditative tone...the action scenes...are expertly delivered....Many Pérez-Reverte readers...will be drawn in by the author's remarkable eloquence and ability to plumb the recesses of a character's psyche." Bill Ott, Booklist (Starred Review)

"Readers of Pérez-Reverte's sixth thriller won't be able to turn the pages fast enough...frightening, fascinating...a portrait of a smart, fast, daring and lucky woman....[A] gripping tale..." Publishers Weekly

"[E]xplodes with history, heart-break, determination, and narcocorridos....[A]n epic suspense story of heart and grit. Superbly translated by Andrew Hurley, the prose is as rich and dense as a flourless chocolate cake. (Grade: A)" Karen Karbo, Entertainment Weekly

"[A]udacious...Pérez-Reverte's pace [is] unhurried and unforced...mesmerizing. The Queen of the South is that rare blessing — a book by a mature writer at the top of his game, unwilling to settle for less than his best." Jorge Antonio Renaud, BookPage.com

"Pérez-Reverte presents another action-packed thriller that will help solidify his reputation in that genre." Library Journal

"[C]ombines a heart-stopping narrative with fully realized characters, and the result will satisfy the author's fans and newcomers alike....Pérez-Reverte steps out in front of the crowd of coming thrillers with a page-turner with heft." Robin Vidimos, Denver Post

"[A] spellbinding thriller....Once again, Pérez-Reverte excels in his meticulous research, successfully recreating the language, music, and cultural codes that characterize this illegal business in both Mexico and Spain." Criticas

"Pérez-Reverte at his best is a matchless entertainer. But this, his weakest novel, is a major disappointment." Kirkus Reviews

"[A] straightforward contemporary crime thriller with a reflective, moody soul....The Queen of the South proceeds according to an unusual rhythm; passages of gasping suspense alternate with brooding psychological rumination and meticulously detailed descriptions of how Teresa's empire is built and run....Yes, The Queen of the South is a kind of narcocorrido, but it's also an anti-narcocorrido, an outsider's inside account of a world in which people are all too willing to sacrifice their humanity for the kind of immortality embodied in a four-minute song. " Laura Miller, Salon.com

"[A] shambling tale of shoot-outs, deals and double-crossings....Frequently sloppy and sometimes flat, the novel is nevertheless a stylish entertainment..." Justin Davidson, New York Newsday

"Here is a novel with fast-paced action, psychological intrigue and philosophical musings on the 'nasty tricks' life plays on people....Teresa's world of drug smuggling [is] vividly depicted by Pérez-Reverte..." Kem Knapp Sawyer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

When Teresa Mendoza's drug smuggling boyfriend is killed, she must find inside herself a woman who is tough enough to inhabit a world as ugly and dangerous as that of the narcos — a woman she never before knew existed.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte lives in Madrid, Spain. Originally a war correspondent, he now writes fiction full-time. His five books, The Flanders Panel, The Club Dumas, The Fencing Master, The Seville Communion, and The Nautical Chart, have been translated into nineteen languages in thirty countries and have sold millions of copies. In 2002, he was elected to the Spanish Royal Academy.