A Cuban family patriarch, late in life, narrates Sour Life, historical fiction surrounding his family's fight to preserve democracy in that Caribbean island nation; their ultimate loss of their beloved homeland and emigration to the United States; his service as a Green Beret in the Vietnam War; and subsequent medical service in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Underlying these efforts is his struggle to thwart drug trafficking and find the CIA killer of his Laotian wife and unborn child. Revisionist history dominates the first section on Cuba and takes the reader around the world as the patriarch fulfills his mission to deliver healthcare and hunt the killer, ultimately ending in war-torn Nicaragua, where he exacts his revenge. He descends into one careless delivery of drugs and lands in federal prison on a five-year sentence. That section departs from fiction and gives an eye-opening inside look at the problems in the U.S. criminal justice system, as does his re-entry first through a halfway house and then back into the real world where he again struggles to find his rightful place and restore relationships with his family. From beginning to end, Sour Life is touching, well-balanced historical fiction, filled with romance and revenge, drama and determination: a real page-turner.

Author Biography

Pablo Omar Zaragoza emigrated from Cuba to the United States in 1959. As exiles, his parents had difficulty making a living, and they moved to California, New York, and Las Vegas. Zaragoza graduated from medical school and did his residency in pathology, which he practiced for many years. Now semi-retired, he pursues his other passion: writing. Susan Giffin is an award-winning author, ghostwriter, and editor of more than 200 books. Sour Life is one of several of their novels slated for publishing in 2017. The team also writes screenplays.