To Sing Like a Mockingbird

Susan Butwin: To Sing Like a Mockingbird is a rare novel that managed to feel both intimate and epic. What struck me most was the way Justin Kopechne narrates from beyond the grave, with a voice that’s equal parts weary, wise, and wounded. I didn’t expect a crime novel to begin with a meditation on life and death, yet that choice hooked me.

Watching Chris Caballero transform from a man of intelligence and charm into a Sinaloa cartel leader was unsettling, especially because the book doesn’t sensationalize him, it mourns what he became. Iggy Valdez, the sheriff-turned-pawn, embodies how power and loyalty can corrode under pressure. For me, the strength of this book lies in how it refuses to give easy answers. It asks what we truly seek in life and whether honor can survive in the messiness of real choices. I finished it feeling haunted but strangely grateful.