✨ Review ✨ The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James; Narrated by Lee Osorio

This dual timeline historical fiction / magical realism book is told through the POV of Antonio, a Mexican bandito in the 1890s Texas-Mexico borderlands, and his grandson Jaime, a film star in 1960s Mexico City. The book's description of the borderlands environment is lush and colorful, spanning from the chaparral the horses are riding through to brothels, trains, and towns in the borderlands region. Antonio sets off of an adventure of retribution that evolves throughout the book as he frequently comes into battle with the Texas Rangers. Jaime's trying to figure out his family history and a mysterious figure that appears among his family. The two stories intertwine slowly reaching fruition at the end!

I loved how the author sets the scene and winds through these spaces, varying the speed are characters are moving about. I appreciated how she depicted the Texas Rangers, and the messy aspects of the borderlands in the late-19th century (the brothel masquerade party was great!). The historical fiction was fantastic, and the magical realism was understated -- definitely not over the top.

I loved that this was based on her ancestor's mythology as El Tragabalas (The Bullet Swallower), and is an intersecting story of myth and history, corridos and Mexican film, and just a delight of a story.

I wanted the dual timeline stories to come together a bit sooner - I was skeptical about this until it came together at the end, and would have loved some more payoff here early on, but otherwise really enjoyed the book.

I alternated between the physical copy and audio and think starting this one out in text might work a bit better (I prefer dual timeline stories in text more than audio typically anyways), but the narration was entertaining and drew me into the story. I appreciated how much emotion he brought to the narration!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: literary fiction, historical fiction, magical realism
Length: 9 hours, 59 minutes
Setting: Northern Mexico, Southern Texas in 1890s and 1960s.
Reminds me of:
Pub Date: 23 Jan 2024

Thanks to Simon & Schuster, Simon & Schuster Audio and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

In the author’s note, Elizabeth Gonzalez James describes this as “a magical realism Western about a Mexican bandido” which I think is a succinct way of summarizing this excellent novel!

I don’t usually read books that are quite so action-packed, and I admit that it was a fun ride. I was not quite prepared for all the violence (though truthfully this should not have surprised me given the premise of the book) but otherwise I generally enjoyed reading it.

I think Gonzalez James is doing something cool here by taking a “western” style adventure story and centering a Mexican protagonist. She highlights issues of racism, colonialism, police profiling, and somehow still makes the story feel fun.

Despite him being a somewhat unlikeable main character, I was invested in what happened next in the Bullet Swallower’s story, and it kept me wanting to pick up the book. I was not quite as invested in the other storyline but I do always love a multigenerational family story and multiple timelines, which this book features.

It was even more cool to find out that the author based a lot of this novel on real historical events, some of which are tied to her own family history. Overall, an enjoyable read that I think helped me to re-contextualize part of US and Mexican history that I learned in a very white-washed way in school.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy of this book!

In 1895 along the Tex Mex border, Antonio Sonoro is struggling to eke out a living to sustain his impoverished family. Once his family had great wealth, accumulated to the detriment and death of many, but now all is gone. When Antonio hears about a Texas train full of treasure, he sees a chance to restore his heritage and assure his future for generations. But this is not an ordinary Western novel.

In 1964, his descendent, Jaime, is a successful, known and liked Mexican singer/actor. A mysterious book comes into his possession that details a dark history about his family. Jaime is intrigued, somewhat horrified and suspicious. Above all he is curious if he can somehow set the past to right in the present.

Gonzalez James shifts the narrative by switching time periods, emphasizing the past and its threat to the future, introducing magic realism and crafting characters that could have been sung about in a corrido. This is a fascinating peek of what life was like on the border and the effect of trauma from past generations. Compelling characters, exciting escapes and characters that bring out their basest instincts. Danny Trejo, the actor, should think about this one! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

This was a compelling story. The author deftly managed time period changes and a lot of interwoven stories in a way that was easy to follow. The book was fast-paced but still meaty. I will definitely be checking out additional titles from this author.

At one time or another while reading Elizabeth Gonzalez James' "magical realism Western about a bandido and his movie star grandson," I got Gabriel Garcia Marquez vibes, then Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, then Lonesome Dove, then Isabel Allende. This remarkable novel based in the Texas/Mexico borderlands is worth re-reading and studying for its masterful trope-tweaking. The characters and situations are at once recognizable yet wholly original. The language is rich, as are the philosophical questions raised. Who pays for the sins of our fathers? What (and who) does reparation look like? The titular character, Antonio Sonoro -- El Tragabalas, the Bullet Swallower -- shines as the star of this novel, with the later timeline of his grandson Jaime a close second. Parallel to and interwoven with these characters is Remedio, the shadow tasked with collecting the Sonoros' cosmic debts. This is the character whose journey and revelations blew my mind every time he entered the scene. Again, I say, remarkable. I highly recommend this book.
[Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

Working Magic in the West

“A dazzling magical realism western in the vein of Cormac McCarthy meets Gabriel García Márquez…” Talk about setting some lofty expectations… Fortunately, I was seduced by the publisher’s tantalizing blurb.

“The Bullet Swallower” covers generations of a Mexican family, starting with a heartless and barbaric mine owner in the early 1800’s, continuing with his fearsome bandido son, and winding up with a 1960’s box office star, Jaime Sonoro. The family’s venomous history is revealed in a manuscript delivered to Jaime, who now struggles with his accountability. This is complicated by the arrival of a shadowy figure, Remedios, apparently present to extract justice from the family.

Antonio Sonoro, Jaime’s grandfather and the son of the mine owner, is a major focus here. He was the outlaw known as El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower. A good deal of the book follows the explosive action as he executes a plot to rob a train– a doomed adventure which costs him everything he holds dear and forges a quest for revenge. Eventually we witness this thirst for retribution transformed into a burning desire for redemption. The final puzzle is of how Jaime can atone for the sins of generations.

Author Elizabeth Gonzalez James has masterfully melded themes of the Old West, border life, racism, magical realism, and the balancing of personal identity versus inherited accountability. She loosely based some of the characters on some family history… and wrote in a note worthy of the Coen brothers, "Everything in this book is true except for the stuff I made up.” This is an entertaining read and lived up to the hype.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster, NetGalley, and Elizabeth Gonzalez James for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is outside of my normal comfort zone. But I saw magical realism and wanted to give it a try. I am so glad that I did!
The story draws you in, and I thought it was even more interesting because it is based on the author's own great grandfather. There are themes of greed, racism, family legacy, and revenge. The story is told in a dual timeline between a man and his grandson. I thought this was well done and thought I had a favorite POV but ended up enjoying both. I was excited when I realized there was a book included in the story, because that is something I normally enjoy.

I enjoyed the authors writing quite a bit. I liked the imagery and felt transported into the setting. I would recommend this story if you like westerns (or even if you don't) magical realism, family curses, and dual timelines.

This is a gem of a book. An impeccably written page turner that makes us care about the characters even when they’re doing wrong and being despicable. It is also an uplifting story of the power of redemption with a personal connection to the author that feels full of love and empathy. Loved it!

This book is completely different in terms of subject matter than Elizabeth Gonzalez James's prior novel, which I gave 5 stars to. There are actually two stories in one here, and I think the author completely pulls off the shift to the Western genre that makes up one of the stories in this novel. In fact, I enjoyed the Western story, which was the sharpest shift in subject matter from prior work, much more than the other story in this work. The story of Antonio Sonoro was engaging and atmospheric and was another 5 star read for me. However, the Jaime Sonoro's story, set in 1964, that alternated with Antonio's throughout the novel was not as interesting to me. I understand the purpose of interlacing this story into the novel, especially from the author's personal perspective, but overall I think the novel may have been better without it. Still, this is another great work by Elizabeth Gonzalez James in which she pulls off a completely new genre. Despite my reservations about the dual story structure, I would completely recommend this book.

A generational western centered around the burdens each generation either adds ont0 or takes from the current genrations' shoulders. Working through the scenes and events that qualify a "western" as a "western" and adding in a little magic, the Sonoro family has managed to live and prosper, with a few bloody fights along the way. In 1964 the Sonoros are well represented by Jaime Sonoro, a popular actor and singer. But a book......it's always a book, journal, diary.....will educate Jaime in his family's history and he'll learn that the family's debts are now due and he is expected to pay them.

Elizabeth Gonzalez James has delivered the magical story that I expected when I read the cover synopsis. I was intrigued by the cover and was sure that I'd either love it or hate it. Taking a chance has given me one of the best books you could read if you are looking for something different.....good different. It's hard to describe the story in a way that will describe the overall feel as Jaime reads the Sonoro family's history and realizes the responsibilities that are now his. It's well worth your reading time.

My special thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Part western, part magical realism, part historical fiction, this was one of the most unique books I've read in awhile!

Antonio Sonoro is not one to be messed with. A notorious Mexican bandit scheming and killing his way through 1895 Mexico, he will stop at nothing to garner riches and continue to raise his and his family's station in life. When he hears of a train coming in across the river in Texas full of riches, he concocts a plan to rob the train and bring his new found wealth back to Mexico and his family. When his plan goes awry, he is thrown into a journey where he fights for his own survival no matter what the cost to others. What Antonio doesn't know is that he is being followed by a mysterious, shadowy man, always lurking nearby watching his every move.

Jaime Sonoro is a famous Mexican movie star and the grandson of Antonio. Jaime is at the height of his acting success when a mysterious woman shows up one day with a literally foul smelling book detailing the entire lineage of the Sonoro family and the treachery and destruction they have imparted over the years. As Jaime is drawn into the tale of his family heritage, he realizes that he may become the person that finally has to pay for all of his family's mistakes, especially when he, the same shadowy mystery man that followed his grandfather suddenly appears in his life.

Normally, I'm not a big reader of westerns but I absolutely loved this book. The mix of adventure, drama, action and suspense kept me fully engaged and I truly enjoyed learning so much about the people and environment of the wild west of Texas in the late 1800s.

I think this was the first western I’ve read in a long time and it has me wanting to check out more from this genre. There was a certain magic to the dual storylines of Antonio and Jamie Sonoro happening about 70 years apart. Both grandfather and grandson felt larger than life in their own ways - as a bandido and a movie star. I love how Jamie became more and more obsessed with finding out the true story of his grandfather, despite his father protesting this and arguing against wanting to learn more about the man - due to some very clear trauma caused by the man.

The story grips you tight and leaves you holding onto your cowboy hats as it takes you jaunting across Mexico and Texas, through a heist gone bad, border disputes, Texas Rangers, and healing and spiritualism that consume the latter part of Antonio’s story. Jamie learning about the cosmic debt and who ends up paying the dues is fantastically revealed and the icing on the cake of this beautiful story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was fantastic!! Well written, well paced, and the plot never lost me. I loved the Western with magical realism combo. I will definitely be checking out more books by Elizabeth Gonzalez James, and highly recommend this one!

Right after Antonio Sonora was born a man his mother couldn’t see looked over at his newborn form and shook his head… no matter how this Antonio sonorous turns out he just couldn’t take out a newborn. There was no way and so he walked out the room. He would have to collect the Sonoras debt later on. Antonio sonorous was the son of a despicable man and although Antonio wasn’t the best of men he loved his wife and children. He even loved his brother who really wasn’t his brother but as a baby Antonio’s mom had a horrible carriage accident that killed Hugo‘s real mom and feeling guilty and bad for the baby she took him home and raised him is Antonio’s younger brother Hugo. As a matter of fact he was at the trail end of even being able to sell anything for the days of the sonorous wealth. This is why when he heard of a train bringing treasures from Mexico to be sold in America he knew how to bring back glory to his family only when the train robbery goes wrong and his brother Hugo is killed instead of being hell-bent on getting wealthy he will be hell-bent on revenge. in 1965 Jaime Sonoras is a famous Mexican actor living a good life in Texas with his wife children and his elderly father. One day when a woman turns up at his house and hand him a package that reeks to high heaven he insist on an explanation and all she says“it’s yours now.“ So he tracks her down and demand an explanation… Again. This is when she explains it is the story of his families life going all the way back to the Cain and Abel saga and that throughout time does the nurses have been wealthy and successful on many occasions and his ancestor decided to write a book about it unfortunately she died before being able to publish it so her kids did just that and everyone who had the book since then has had nothing but bad luck and violent ends. Now Jaime was the proud owner but is there anything he can do to change it can he bring redemption back to a family that is Roth with violence and horrible endings? This book was so good I loved Antonio and Jaime by the end you will definitely be rooting for both of them as the book is told simultaneously in dual timelines. It is on the longer side but like most good books keeping track of time it’s something impossible to do once you start reading it. The Bullet Swallower is sprinkled with just enough magical realism where a debt has to be paid unless a hero comes to save the day. I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

A dangerous family deals with the consequences of their ruthless ways. Death skips from family member to family member, from generation to generation, but eventually becomes enamored with the family himself. Author Elizabeth Gonzalez James leans into her own family’s history for the root of a story that starts with a lot of gusto but ends in a quiet breeze in her new book The Bullet Swallower.

Everyone in Mexico knows you don’t mess with the Sonoro family. They don’t hesitate to kill and plunder for their own gain, and some say their carnage goes all the way back to Biblical times. At the end of the 19th century, however, Antonio Sonoro hasn’t reaped any of the benefits of his ancestors. He knows how well off they were; the huge mansion where his family once lived still stands in his hometown of Dorado. But the only thing more tumbledown and crumbling than the mansion is Antonio’s life.

He has a wife and two children, a younger brother, and the responsibility of what feels like the entire world on his back. The drought that has ravaged the land has left Antonio and his family scrounging for food and a way to support themselves. Antonio has tried more than once to follow the straight and narrow after the repeated pleading of his wife, Jesusa, and his brother, Hugo. But it’s hard to make an honest day’s living and have enough to feed the children.

Word comes that a train is headed to Texas full of riches, and Antonio knows that if he wants his family to survive he needs to rob the train. Hugo joins him with a great deal of reluctance, and the brothers make their way across the border. Then Hugo dies in a standoff with Texas Rangers, and Antonio goes crazy with rage. Forget survival; now what he wants is revenge.

Sixty years later, Jaime Sonoro is enjoying fame and fortune as Mexico’s most popular entertainer. He’s a popular singer and actor, and he enjoys using personal experiences in his projects. A mysterious stranger stumbles into Jaime’s life, and the man intrigues Jaime. Around the same time a woman comes to Jaime’s home, hands him a handwritten memoir, and insists the book is his and that he needs to read it.

Between the jarring accounts in the memoir and the stranger in his house, Jaime starts to wonder more about his infamous family heritage. The book tells tales of unspeakable crimes committed by generations of Sonoros, but Jaime can’t make it all square with the gentle, loving man he calls his father. Juan Antonio is a Sonoro too, yet nothing about him suggests the brutality Jaime finds in the memoir. How can all this be true? And is Jaime destined to turn out the same?

The end of the memoir details the story of Antonio Sonoro and his quest to avenge his brother’s murder. The book calls Antonio “El Tragabalas”—The Bullet Swallower—because of the encounter with the Texas Rangers that left his face damaged and the fact that the bullet disappeared. Jaime feels sorrow for El Tragabalas and knows there’s only one way to honor the man: by making a film about him. Except he doesn’t think his father will agree to the project, and it turns out he’s right—but not for the reasons Jaime expects.

Author Elizabeth Gonzalez James shares in a note at the end of the book that she used her own family members as loose inspiration for Antonio and embellished quite a bit for the Sonoro family infamy. The book’s setting and background definitely reap the benefit of James’s research. The novel feels lived in, the textures real and almost three-dimensional. Readers will be able to visualize every scene with clarity.

Less successful is the plot itself. While the book opens with several chapters of drama and action, it quickly pivots to Antonio and then Jaime and alternates between the two. Despite marketing blurbs suggesting otherwise, the novel isn’t an in-depth look at several generations of Sonoro men. Instead, it focuses on Antonio and Jaime and may leave readers feeling like the book was mounted on a much grander scale than what it eventually turns out to be.

Still, the novel does conjure images of the wild west and offers the reality of what happened on the border in those years. Those wanting to experience life in the heat of the desert and experience a meticulously researched book will want to check this one out.

The Bullet Swallower may be a short book, but it packs a punch with its epic western adventure set in the unforgiving landscapes of Texas and Mexico. The vivid imagery and magical realism elements make for an engaging read. I particularly enjoy how Gonzalez James weaves in Mexican generational storytelling to explore themes of colonialism, racism, and generational trauma.

On the surface, the book appears to be a revenge story. However, for me, where the book shines is the junction between fate and choice. Throughout the novel, Gonzalez James raises the question of whether we must pay for the sins of our ancestors across generations.

Audiobook narrator Lee Osorio gives a magnificent performance, perfectly capturing Mexican, Texan, and British accents and bringing the character of Antonio Sonoro to life.

Overall, a great book worth reading. Please read the author's note as she provides some personal history to the story. One more piece of advice…grab a buddy reader when you start this one because the themes and subtopics are book club-worthy!

On its surface, The Bullet Swallower is the tale of two men: Antonio Sonoro, a bandito in the 1890s Dorado, Mexico who goes on the run - and then for revenge - after an attempted train robbery in Texas goes disastrously wrong and puts him in the crosshairs of the Texas Rangers; and Jaime Sonoro, his grandson, a movie star in 1960’s Mexico City, who is given a strange old book detailing the long and very evil past of the Sonoro family.

Peel back the surface of this slim but blood-soaked tale, though, and Elizabeth Gonzalez James has turned a legend from her own family’s past into an exploration (with all the gentleness of a melon-baller to the flesh) of human nature. Why do men throw away the things that bring them happiness, and stability, for adventure, money, glory? Is the cost (often, quite literally, one’s soul) worth the spoils? Restless and pushed to make reckless choices by a years-long drought, Antonio decides to go after a train filled with expensive goods. He ignores the steep risks, bad omens and the refusal of anyone else who might normally take part in such a scheme and presses ahead, with only his pious adopted younger brother Hugo along. When it inevitably goes wrong, the deadly ripple effects leave carnage in their wake. Many innocents suffer for Antonio’s hubris. Evil is in the Sonoro nature, it seems.

With a dash of magical realism (Fate, or perhaps the Grim Reaper personified by a shadow named Remidio), the swagger of a Western, swirled up in the politics of race and the US-Mexico border, The Bullet Swallower is compelling. I sometimes felt like I was reading it through my fingers (I’ll admit I’m a bit squeamish), but it was worth not looking away.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One reviewer called this magic realism and I think that sums up the book very well. The book was well written and will likely appeal to a specific kind of reader who adores this type of story. Unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. I have tried this type of book in the past and I should know by now that some of them just don’t work for me. I appreciate the opportunity to read the book and I am sure it will be loved by many. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC.

Elizabeth Gonzalez James’s The Bullet Swallower is a genre-bending western that centers on the Sonoro family, whose heritage is tied to the violent, profit-seeking colonization of Mexico. One of the book’s storylines follows Antonio, the grandson of a cold-blooded gold baron and a bandit, who is plunged into a bloody quest for vengeance when one of his heists goes sideways. The second storyline follows Jamie, Antonio’s grandson, an actor who gradually uncovers his family’s dark history. In both eras, the Sonoro descendants are haunted by a mysterious spirit—a “darkness” whose purpose lies somewhere between mercy and retribution. Across a gripping narrative, Gonzalez James brings together these two storylines in a potent, revelatory way. There are lots of good things I could say about this book: about its playing with the conventions of the western genre, its propulsive narrative, its careful character development (particularly Antonio). Highly recommend!

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a DRC in exchange for my honest review 🤠

What an adventure! The Bullet Swallower is a Western magical realism about a bandito traveling between Mexico and Texas in the 1890s, coupled with the story of his movie star grandson in the 1960s. There’s everything you expect in a Western, plus a little magic and emotional reflection. I was also so excited to learn that this is based on the authors real grandfather! Stories like these that are based in reality are just become even more special IMO.

The only caveat is that although this book is less than 300 pages… they were the longest 300 pages ever 😂 I totally expected to finish this in a day or two, and it took me much longer!