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Trust Me
This fast-paced debut novel follows political kingmaker Charles O'Connell and barrels through the New Mexican landscape in an exploration of innocence and guilt, wealth and power, and the search for love and happiness.
304 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 10, 2021
Three different stories. Charles is a failed political manager, Olivia an artist married to a rich man and Gabe, a Native American. The stories are loosely connected and involve the construction of an airport in Santa Fe, NM, in which a burial site is discovered. Charles is hired as a PR man but is there an ulterior motive?
An interesting story that lacks a little bit of cohesiveness. They are all over the place and you keep on asking “when are they coming together?” Be patient because it finally does. Well written with decent characters and some interesting information about the plight of Native Americans.
An interesting story that lacks a little bit of cohesiveness. They are all over the place and you keep on asking “when are they coming together?” Be patient because it finally does. Well written with decent characters and some interesting information about the plight of Native Americans.
March 31, 2020
Enjoyed this book! You can read my review of it for the Texas Observer here: https://www.texasobserver.org/trust-m...
December 27, 2020
So much fun reading this debut novel by Richard Santos, who brings much of his experience and knowledge as a former political consultant and union organizer. Told in multiple points of view, Trust Me shows the complexity of New Mexico politics and history, especially in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. My favorite character is Gabriel Luna, a sweet, messed up, and often hilarious laborer, who just wants to spend some time with his teenaged son. The book begins with Gabe discovering human bones at a high profile development site, and the subsequent story grows more and more political and complicated.
October 15, 2021
Trust Me is the debut suspense thriller from Richard Z. Santos with dueling stories of two men affected by the discovery of a mysterious skeleton on a construction site in New Mexico. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Charles O'Connell is riding an epic losing streak. An unexpected offer to work in Santa Fe, New Mexico, doing public relations for a firm building the city's new airport feels like an opportunity to start fresh and make connections with powerful people out west. But when the construction crew unearths a skeleton, Charles' fresh start turns into another disaster. Gabriel Luna, one of the laborers present when the skeleton is unearthed, is willing to do just about anything to reconnect with his teenage son. Surrounded by deception on all fronts, including his own lies to himself and his wife, Charles falls into a whirlwind of fraud, betrayal and double crosses.”
The parallel stories involving Charles and Gabriel are both initiated with the surprise discovery of a mysterious skeleton at the construction site (maybe it’s the legendary Geronimo?), but Gabriel’s more compelling storyline has real stakes to sink your teeth into. It’s hard not to root for a guy who wants and tries to be a good father, even when life continually beats him down. He tries his best with the limited options he has even though most of those options are unmistakably bad choices. Charles, on the other hand, is just another rat on the corrupt vessel of Cody Branch’s duplicitous city “project.” It’s hard to feel sorry for him when he’s almost just as corrupt as the people he works for.
It takes a while for Santos’ story to rev up. But once it does—as the double-crosses and backstabbing decisions come flying almost two thirds of the way in as well as Gabriel’s descent down his hard road to redemption—it’s a hard story to put down. The two stories never really intersect, but their parallel paths have a compelling contrast. Santos is an author to watch. Let’s all hope we see his next novel very soon.
I enjoyed this book and I recommend it. I would give this novel 4 stars.
The parallel stories involving Charles and Gabriel are both initiated with the surprise discovery of a mysterious skeleton at the construction site (maybe it’s the legendary Geronimo?), but Gabriel’s more compelling storyline has real stakes to sink your teeth into. It’s hard not to root for a guy who wants and tries to be a good father, even when life continually beats him down. He tries his best with the limited options he has even though most of those options are unmistakably bad choices. Charles, on the other hand, is just another rat on the corrupt vessel of Cody Branch’s duplicitous city “project.” It’s hard to feel sorry for him when he’s almost just as corrupt as the people he works for.
It takes a while for Santos’ story to rev up. But once it does—as the double-crosses and backstabbing decisions come flying almost two thirds of the way in as well as Gabriel’s descent down his hard road to redemption—it’s a hard story to put down. The two stories never really intersect, but their parallel paths have a compelling contrast. Santos is an author to watch. Let’s all hope we see his next novel very soon.
I enjoyed this book and I recommend it. I would give this novel 4 stars.
July 17, 2020
Really enjoyed this book about a down-on-his-luck political campaigner who tries to get back on his feet by taking a job for a Sante Fe developer and power player and finds himself in a world he can’t handle. Power is a force that dominates the lives of the players of the game but also ripples into the lives of “regular folk” and Santos does a great job of showing that, turning his lens from the powerful to those who are doing their best to stay afloat in the rush. The dialogue in this fast-paced novel is really fantastically done: it’s a pleasure to read many different tones and idioms that tell you all about the characters but the dialogue also does a lot of narrative work and lets you infer what has happened instead of requiring the narrator to explain. Highly recommend!
December 21, 2020
There's a lot to like about this pageturner set in Santa Fe as a shady tycoon tries to build a casino on the sly until his wife, a new PR hire, and a not recognized indigenous community seem to toss as wrench in his plans.
I loved the look at Santa Fe and its politics - my family is from there, so I laughed and nodded along to many of the observations. I do think I could have read another 100 pages of this - it got really interesting, and unpredictable, when the tycoon abruptly leaves town and abandons his home seemingly. However, it then pivots to a nimble, but perhaps rushed, denouemment.
The chapters are short and concise and the characters are as likeable as possible for this type of political thriller where everybody is elbow deep in mud.
I loved the look at Santa Fe and its politics - my family is from there, so I laughed and nodded along to many of the observations. I do think I could have read another 100 pages of this - it got really interesting, and unpredictable, when the tycoon abruptly leaves town and abandons his home seemingly. However, it then pivots to a nimble, but perhaps rushed, denouemment.
The chapters are short and concise and the characters are as likeable as possible for this type of political thriller where everybody is elbow deep in mud.
January 27, 2022
***SPOILER ALERT***
At first, I did not enjoy this book very much. The characters were not at all likable. But then as I delved in deeper, I realized that was part of the point. They were all very flawed, some more likable...more redeemable than others. The title is ironic because nobody in this book is trustworthy. Everyone for the most part is greedy or lying to themselves about something...or both. It reminded me of the book SIMPLE PLAN, they made a movie out of it too with Billy Bob Thornton. Small people, greedy, trying to get away with this big plan...bigger than them...and it all blows up in their faces. Nobody truly gets what they want. And that's the moral of this story.
The characters are believable and beautifully crafted. Very well done.
At first, I did not enjoy this book very much. The characters were not at all likable. But then as I delved in deeper, I realized that was part of the point. They were all very flawed, some more likable...more redeemable than others. The title is ironic because nobody in this book is trustworthy. Everyone for the most part is greedy or lying to themselves about something...or both. It reminded me of the book SIMPLE PLAN, they made a movie out of it too with Billy Bob Thornton. Small people, greedy, trying to get away with this big plan...bigger than them...and it all blows up in their faces. Nobody truly gets what they want. And that's the moral of this story.
The characters are believable and beautifully crafted. Very well done.
August 24, 2020
TRUST ME is a nimble blend of high-desert political thriller, noir, and crime drama. The plot, folded tightly with twists and revelations, never veers far from its vivid and layered characters—reckless oil barons and unsavory political operatives, powerful single moms and redemption-seeking deadbeat dads, ambitious artists and weary veterans—characters who, in Santos’ generous hands, glow with warmth and need and life, who risk everything they’ve got in end-of-the-line attempts to become who they believe themselves to be. An engrossing and insightful debut from a truly exciting talent.
April 29, 2020
Disgraced and clueless political operative Charlie O’Connell hopes for a new beginning. Santa Fe socialite Olivia Branch craves delivery from a marriage that’s become a prison. Chronic pothead and serial failure Gabriel Luna needs to scrape together a thousand bucks to send his kid to camp. Ex-cop and hammer-fisted enforcer Mallon just wants his world to make sense.
Read my whole review at pauleberly.com.
Read my whole review at pauleberly.com.
November 26, 2022
This was a fun read…but that’s about it. The characters were all awful, leaving the reader with no one to root for. I thought it was going to have more depth, go into the back story of indigenous people, but it was mostly just a crime caper about a bunch of sleazy rich people.
January 10, 2020
A compelling story about politics.
October 14, 2020
Disappointing.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews