The House of the Scorpion: 5/5

December 4th 2009

Matt is beginning to fight back verbally against the keepers. The keepers have beaten him because of his arrogance, and his rebellion he has created with his roommates. The keepers cannot get Matt to confess a sin, so they decide they will beat Fidileto. Before Jorge the keeper hits him, Matt knocks the cane out of his hands, and the children gang up on him.

All I can think is that I really hope that there never comes an orphanage like this, where children are forced to work, and are beaten. Then again, there probably already is one. It may not be an orphanage but there are places around the world where child labor exists.

Matt and Chacho are dumped into the whale pit, as punishment for ganging up on Jorge. Luckily, Ton-Ton and Fidileto who rescue them on their shrimp harvester save them. They escape the facility and are brought to a hospital.

It is there that Matt finally finds Maria, and her mother Esperanza. Matt learns that Opium is in lockdown. No one can enter or leave the country. Only El Patron's DNA can deactivate the security. Esperanza tells Matt that because he is a clone of the dead El Patron, he has inherited Opium and is the new El Patron. She offers Matt her support, provided that he promises to destroy Opium from within and return it back to normal. Matt agrees, and returns to Opium, planning to shut down the drug empire and turn the eejits back into normal humans. Matt manages to re-enter Opium, but only to learn that El Patron killed most of his staff and family. El Patron viewed his staff and family as his possessions, and killed them with the wine they drank at his funeral.

The ending of the book really surprised me. I never really expected things would turn out so great for Matt. How Matt basically became the “new El Patron”, really was a shock to me. Though it does sadden me that among the people who died at El Patrons funeral, Tam Lin was one of them, despite him knowing the wine was poisonous.

The book had an overall feel-good ending. However, the ending was ambiguous. Matt conquers his enemies and obstacles (El Patron, Tom, the Keepers ect..) and now he is left, the leader of Opium. He is left as El Patron. It really makes me wonder what happened next. I think the book was written way too well to ever have a sequel. It a way, it reminds me of The Sopranos. It was a perfect series, and it ended “boom”, just like that. It was good, but it left you wanting more, wanting to know what happened next.

I think the whole objective of these kinds of endings is basically to make people think of their own sequel, or ending to the series, and make them think what ever they want to happen next. I think the author wouldn’t dare try to pick one of these outcomes to such a good book, as it may not suit everyone’s taste in how they want the story to continue or end.

This is definitely one of the best books I have ever ready. Though the book was long, it never proved difficult for me to read once. It perfect climax build ups that really made it the most exiting book I have ever read as well. My personal rating is 89/100. I would recommend this book to anyone ages 14 and up. Anyone who has the reading ability to read this book should do so.