Review: Refuge by Jeff Kerr

 

Writer: Jeff Kerr

Cover Artist: David Provolo

Publisher: Treaty Oak Publishers

Paperback: $7.49

Paperback Release Date: May 28, 2023

Kindle: $2.99

Kindle Release Date: July 17, 2023

Also available from Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Apple Books, and Kobo

 

Economic hardship forced Miranda Flores' family to leave Albuquerque, New Mexico, and return home. When her brother allied with the wrong people, the Salvadoran government ordered her family slaughtered. After fleeing her homeland, how will the city of her youth welcome her? Let's leap into Jeff Kerr's new novel Refuge and find out!

 

Story

Tragedy strikes after sneaking into the United States. Separated from her friend Fecundo, Miranda travels alone to Albuquerque. Yet cameras track her movements. Many people view all nonCaucasians—even U.S. citizens—with suspicion. She can't even purchase goods and services legally without an implanted microchip.

 

I wondered why Miranda and Fecundo chose to sneak into the United States in Jeff Kerr’s new novel Refuge. Wouldn’t it have been easier and safer to find another home—at least a temporary one—in another Central or South American country? For that matter, why not try Cuba, Jamaica, or the Bahamas? Ten years ago, Miranda's family got shafted by the system. The situation for illegal aliens living within U.S. borders has worsened since. Still, when you’ve got a gun against your head, you go with what you know, even if it’s grasping at straws. Miranda and Fecundo had friends and relatives in the U.S. Thus, their nightmare journey to the United States, which Jeff Kerr revealed in his stories "Death Train" and "Into The Fire," available at Bookfunnel.com.

 

Art

Jeff Kerr paints the United States in broad strokes. From local law enforcement to the White House, all levels of government play a role. Politicians have partnered with White Supremacists and Anti-Immigrant coalitions. Ordinary citizens become watchdogs and often take the law into their own hands. Any non-Caucasian, at any time, can be rounded up for questioning, beaten, or sent to an internment camp. At times, I wished Jeff Kerr would have enhanced the dystopian future in Refuge with a more detailed history of how it came about. Yet that would have slowed the pace. And sadly, the seeds for this type of future are rooted in our history: our treatment of Japanese citizens during World War II; our distrust of Middle Eastern citizens following September 11, 2001; and the way many blamed Asians for the Covid-19 pandemic. Such examples of racial hatred, and the insurrection on January 6, 2021, ground Kerr’s dark vision.

 

He also draws his characters with precision in Refuge. They define themselves through their words and actions, and I never forgot who was who. As the story unfolds, we learn more about Miranda—the girl she was and the woman she's become. She meets people from her past, finds work, and makes friends and enemies. Yet the incident puts U.S. agents on her trail. She’s never safe. She’s always at risk.

 

The intense themes and fast pace dominate my recollection of the book. Still, while writing this review, my wife asked if Jeff reduced the tension with humor. When I shook my head, she said I'd often smiled or chuckled when reading Refuge. I can only assume that the interactions between Jeff's appealing and sympathetic characters were so truthful that I took heart from them. I rooted for Miranda—and hoped she could make a new life for herself—all the way through.

 

Final Thoughts

Grounded in historic and contemporary racial hatred and supported with nationalist and anti-immigrant zeal, Jeff Kerr's novel Refuge demonstrates how prejudice can fuel fascism and how delicate and precious democracy is.

 

Rating: 4 Stars

 

P.S. Thanks to Jeff Kerr & Treaty Oak Publishers for sending me a review copy of Refuge. 

Related Links

Jeff Kerr's website: www.jeffreykerrauthor.com