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"UNDER THE FIFTH SUN tells a story about a land of enchantment and
violence; of beauty and brutality.  That land is modern day Mexico.
Author Jeffrey Osburn leverages his personal and professional experience
to illustrate the complexity of North America, where the destiny of two
nations layers with ambitions and resentments that span generations.  A
thoughtful and interesting debut novel."  David Danelo, author of The Border

Reviewed by Montiese McKenzie

Under the Fifth Sun
by Jeffrey Osburn

This book starts off with a bang. A Border Patrol officer filling his car with gas notices a bunch of suspicious SUVs doing the same near the Mexican Border in Texas and his reaction starts a chain of events that builds for the next 220 pages. The plot of this book touches on the pulse of what's happening right now; Mexican drug cartels and the American and Mexican law enforcement agents trying to stop them. Throw in government officials, tech geeks, political intrigue, and a dash of romance and you have a gripping, fast-paced novel that absorbs from start to finish.

There are many amazing characters, Felipe Vega, a Customs and Border Patrol Agent who soon is working for the US Government to stop the cartels, Adolfo Reyes, the new President of Mexico, Chema, his enemy, who has plans of his own for how the country should be run, Don Huicho Gamez, the biggest drug lord in Mexico, and Luis and Elias Almanza, young migrant workers who get caught up in something far beyond their imagination. They are just a few, there are so many more it is sometimes hard to keep up but the action never stops. Good guys make a move, bad guys counter, or vice-versa. It climaxes with an explosion, which starts a new avalanche of action. Characters aren't sure who is on what side when the smoke clears. No one knows if they are safe with the person standing right next to them. There is even more to come.

Well-written, great characterization and action packed, it's difficult to stop turning the pages of the book and before you know it you're at the end. So much happens in so few pages you want to go back and start again, sure you missed something. Some of the tech speak can be a bit hard to follow at times, you may find yourself drowning in acronyms, but it's a small price to pay for a thrilling ride. Since very little is resolved at the end, readers are left gasping, one hopes to see more from these characters in the future.