Nobody's Pilgrims

by Sergio Troncoso Narrated by Johnny Rey Diaz

Overview

No Country for Old Men meets Contagion in this story of three teens on the run, carrying a great menace, and chased by a greater evil.
Three teenagers are traveling northeast in a navy blue Ford pickup. Turi fled his abusive family at the border to see the beautiful New England landscape he's always dreamed about. Arnulfo is undocumented and wants only to find someplace safe and quiet. Molly seeks a new
life far away from her nowhere Missouri town. Turi and Arnulfo are best friends. Molly and Turi are falling in love.
But for all their innocence, violence follows the trio at every turn. The mean viejito who owns the truck wants it back. The narco who hid a deadly shipment in the truck really, really wants it back. And the imperturbable hitman the narco sends after the trio will kill anyone who stands
in his way. Turi, Arnulfo, and Molly might outrun the carnage that's stalking them ... but they can't elude the chaos they're carrying, no matter how far they go.
A literary novel with the propulsion of a thriller, a genre joyride written in the prose of a master, Nobody's Pilgrims both offers and questions the possibility of escape-a great American road trip with a gritty frontera twist.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"The castoffs and castaways of Nobody's Pilgrims hit the road in search of the American Dream, a long shot made longer by the pack of human devils hot on their trail. In this superb novel, Sergio Troncoso gives us a fresh take not only on the great American road trip, but on the American Dream itself in all its glorious and increasingly fragile promise. The propulsive force of this novel, and the destination it ultimately brings us to, left me wanting more, and yet feeling completely satisfied. As only the best novels do." — Ben Fountain, PEN/Hemingway-winning author of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara

"In a world marked by cruelty, corruption, bigotry and disease, Troncoso shows us there's still room for love. With his finely honed prose style, he takes us on a journey across the country with three young hungry teens whose dreams are the only lifelines they have left. A powerful, compelling read." — Octavio Solis, author of Retablos: Stories From a Life Lived Along the Border

"Nobody's Pilgrims offers a stark vision of a country whose social ills have sullied the path to the pursuit of happiness. Yet its intrepid protagonists Turi and Molly persevere, charting their own map and adapting, like generations of dreamers, immigrants, and adventurers before them, to the latest hurdles of our troubled world. Sergio Troncoso has given us a timely dystopian tale heavy with anguish but invigorated by resilience." — Rigoberto Gonzalez, author of Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa

"Eloquent, bold and terrifying, Nobody's Pilgrims is a fresh new take on the ancient themes of innocence pursued by evil, and of the young finding their way through a chaotic and uncertain world. Turi, Arnulfo and Molly are original and uniquely endearing, and they're a pleasure to travel with, even on such a frightening journey." — Elizabeth Crook, author of The Which Way TreeandMonday, Monday

INDIES Book of the Year Awards, Foreword Reviews
International Latino Book Award, Empowering Latino Futures
Recommended YA Fiction List, In the Margins Book Awards
Top Ten Titles of the Year, In the Margins Book Awards

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159679208
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	08/22/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

At the dusty corner of Americas Avenue and Socorro Road, Turi falls into an uneasy half-sleep under the June stars. The smell of the cotton fields wafts over him. He imagines the Milky Way shining against the blue-black sky like a floating river of lights. Turi has always loved staring at the worlds beyond this earth. He can’t wait to keep reading The Mystery of the Mighty Housatonic River. His ribs ache if he twists a certain way, and one side of his tongue is puffy inside his mouth. Like gigantic, heedless mechanical monsters, eighteen-wheelers roar by him on Americas and unleash rolling gusts of wind that disperse into the fields. He smells alfalfa and cattle somewhere faraway in the cool desert. After a while, as he drifts in and out of consciousness, his headache is gone and the pain in his midsection disappears as long as he keeps still. It is a beautiful summer night in the desert. His mother would have loved this night.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Turi hears a familiar voice say, as he feels a gentle kick at the bottom of one sneaker. He smiles even before opening his eyes.

“I want to go with you. Can I?”

“Don’t know why not,” Arnulfo Muñoz says, smiling at Turi almost as if he expected him to be there. A truck speeds past them on Americas, its headlights illuminating Turi’s face like slow lightning. Arnulfo holds out his hand to haul Turi to his feet. Turi grimaces as he stands up. “What happened to you? You okay?”

“Fell down. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine, ese. What time is it?”

“About, let me see, twenty minutes past—oh, here he is!” Arnulfo says.

A shiny navy blue Ford pickup, with a double cab and a large chromed toolbox in back, slides to a stop on the gravel. The old man Juanito stares at Turi, does not smile through his golden teeth. He waits a moment, then jerks his head for both of them to get in.

Videos