Do we determine our fate or are we toys of the gods? This ancient question is asked in a story wrapped in the sunny warmth of an idyllic fishing village cum fledgling resort destination on the Mexican Pacific coast during the winter of 1973. The answer explodes with fury in the final chapters.
The protagonists, Ruthie and Albert, are a young Canadian couple wintering in a low-budget house perched above the fishermen's docks in the lagoon behind the village. They are finding themselves, discovering an ancient culture, building their future - and having a baby.
The antagonists are a pompous American student, Vino, his dimwitted go-fer sidekick Tommy, and Ibarrios, an ambitious and ruthless Mexican real estate developer who has grand development schemes to transform the sleepy village for his own profit. All three share a contempt for the village's ancient traditions and beliefs.
But there is a third protagonist: a crucifix in the village's centuries-old church, where the arms of the Christ figure, broken at the shoulders and dangling at its sides, mark it to all as the revered Christ of the Cyclone.
Cover Art "Los Brazos de Cristo" and book illustrations by Lowell Boileau