The Wall by David Pereda - Book Blitz + Giveaway
THOMAS BERTRAM is an American living in San Salvador with his fiancée CECILIA.
They own a popular neighborhood restaurant and plan to wed soon. Thomas's
dream is to obtain a resident visa for Cecilia and return to the United
States.
DOMINGO JIMENEZ and his wife BLANCA own a small repair shop across the street. Domingo's dream is to move to America as well so that his seven-year-old daughter NANCY can grow up speaking English and having a good education and a better life than he and Blanca had.When armed gang members invade their neighborhood to demand "protection" money and threaten them with death if they don't pay, Thomas and Domingo's dreams for the future take on a new perspective. They decide to flee the country with their families through Guatemala and Mexico to seek asylum in the United States.But their journey is more challenging than expected, and they face a myriad of difficulties and must overcome multiple obstacles that put not only their dreams but also their lives at risk.
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EXCERPT
Plodding in a caravan in the blistering sun with hundreds of other human beings
was a new experience for Domingo—and for Blanca and Nancy, too.
Domingo guessed it was also a unique experience for most crowd members based on
their looks and actions. There were people of all ages and types in the mob,
including children a lot younger than Nancy. Young men and women wore shorts and
T-shirts or tank tops, and many listened to music on headphones as they bounced
on colorful tennis shoes. Older members were bundled in jackets and hid their
faces from the harsh sun under outsized straw hats as they slogged forward with
determination. A few of the people were so old they could hardly walk, hobbling
along trying to keep up with the wandering procession. Some of the older
children kicked an old soccer ball around or streaked through the crowd
screaming and laughing, playing a game of tag, occasionally bumping into someone
who invariably hurled angry epithets at them. Several of the younger children
were crying and complaining about the heat and the confusion. Dozens of the
women were pregnant or carrying recently born babies in their arms, some of them
bawling because of hunger or a need for a diaper change. The grounds were
littered with discarded items—empty bottles, dirty diapers, cereal boxes, even
used toilet paper.
Domingo was amazed at the lack of prominent individuals leading the caravan and
maintaining a modicum of order and hygiene. From the very beginning, the march
had no leaders and no guides. They had all gathered at El Salvador del Mundo
Plaza in central San Salvador at dawn and started moving at around 8 am, when
someone sitting under a tree smoking a cigarette stood and yelled, “Vamos!”
And that was it. The caravan started moving, unhurriedly and inexorably, like a
gigantic snake uncoiling itself to go in search of something to eat.
They had been on the road for a week now. Although their faces were baked red by
the sun, they hadn’t advanced much. Domingo worried that all the food and water
he brought along wasn’t going to last more than another week or two. The stress
of the trip had already cracked the rosy shell of initial optimism, and reality
had begun to seep in—disgruntled rumblings about the speed of the caravan
started to surface, and two episodes of theft reported. Tempers flared a few
times, usually only resulting in loud arguments and name-calling, but twice
ending in fistfights that had to be broken up by others.
A young man named Octavio, traveling with two friends close to Domingo and his
family, told him about two thousand people from different parts of El Salvador
were in the caravan. They were strangers and suspicious of each other, which was
the reason for all the problems.
David Pereda is the award-winning author of eleven thrillers and mainstream
novels. His books have won the Lighthouse Book Awards twice, the Royal Palm
Awards, the National Indie Excellence Awards, and the Readers Favorite Awards
twice. He has traveled to more than thirty countries around the world and speaks
four languages.
Before devoting his time solely to writing and teaching, Pereda had a successful
international consulting career with global giant Booz Allen Hamilton, where he
worked with the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Qatar, among
others.
A member of MENSA, Pereda earned his MBA from Pepperdine University in
California. He earned BA degrees in English literature and mathematics at the
University of South Florida in Tampa. He loves sports and has won many prizes
competing in track and show-jumping equestrian events.
Pereda lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches mathematics and
English at the Asheville-Buncombe Community College.
Website: http://www.davidpereda.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/DavidPeredaAVL
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/davidmpereda
Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.com/David-Pereda/e/B002BML17Q%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
David Pereda will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
4 Comments
Thank you for having me as a guest on your blog today. I will be checking in throughout the day to answer any questions that you or your readers may have.
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DeletePlease try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.