I Am Not Not Afraid to Die
Synopsis of the published novel by Guillermo Munro, based upon a true story
I Am Not Afraid to Die is a book about good and evil in a territory half México, half United
states, half desert, and half sea along the Sonora-Arizona border.
In a place near the delta of the Colorado River, near the border with United States, two
groups of men dressed in black torture a man and a woman. Three of them hold a blonde
woman; she screams in fear and terror. Another group of three holds a naked man. The
electric blue light of the torture stick illuminates the surrounding darkness. The woman is
marine biologist GABRIELLA GIRARDI, 24, blonde, American, educated in United States
and Mexico. The man being tortured is journalist CRISTOBAL SANTILLÁNEZ, 34.
A few months before, Cristóbal had received an urgent call from Gabriella telling him about
the sudden death of 450 sea mammals in the Sea of Cortez. One night a fisherman invites
them to a boat ride in the dark sea where they witness drug dealers using a deadly liquid
chemical called NK19 to trace a circle in the water. This chemical becomes cyanide at the
touch of water, but also becomes a fluorescent blue mark in the dark sea, an indicator for
the airplanes to drop drugs; the drugs are to be picked up by small boats, then transported
to the border. Without knowing, Cristóbal and Gabriella had entered the dangerous world
of drug trafficking, the world of lord dealer Chichi Prieta. Cristobal goes to Nazario Rosas,
owner of a daily newspaper and a friend from his younger days in the border city of San
Luis; Rosas, a modern Don Quixote, invites Cristóbal to investigate two important groups
of the most dangerous cartels in Mexico: Chichi Prieta and Vicente Heredia, themselves
fighting a daily bloody battle for territory. Soon, both Gabriella and Cristobal delve more and
more deeply into the drug dealers' world. Later, Nazario Rosas is gunned down in front of
his newspaper office. Cristóbal and Gabriella are kidnapped and tortured by thugs who
want the pair to reveal their informants. Fortunately, a group of bird watchers rescues them
and they are hospitalized in Arizona. Gabriella pleads with Cristóbal to drop their
investigation, but he tells her that if he does so, then Nazario will have died in vain.
Cristobal subsequently learns about a small jet, loaded with five tons of cocaine,
scheduled to land in the Sonoran Desert. The U.S. DEA, the Mexican Federal Police, and
the Mexican army converge in a gripping climax to the novel.
Published Novels: Voices from the Sea (published in Spanish as Las voces vienen del
mar in 1992 by ISC). The Sufferings of Puerto Esperanza (Honorable Mention
1995-published in Spanish as Los sufrimientos de Puerto Esperanza by Conaculta/ISC).
Camino del Diablo (Published in Spanish in 1997 by ISC). I am not Afraid to Die
(published in Spanish as No me da miedo morir in April 2003 and sold to Silver Lion
Films in October 2005). His new novel Return to Puerto Esperanza (2006) will be
published soon.
Guillermo Munro is an author, scriptwriter and historian of the Gran Desierto and the Sea
of Cortez. He is the editor and director of Nuestra gente, a monthly magazine of history,
interviews, chronicles and legends of the northwest of Sonora, now on its fourth year.
gmunro@gmunro.com Phone in USA 661-296-8913 and 619-216-6338 and in Mexico:
638-383-3792
Synopsis of the published novel by Guillermo Munro, based upon a true story
I Am Not Afraid to Die is a book about good and evil in a territory half México, half United
states, half desert, and half sea along the Sonora-Arizona border.
In a place near the delta of the Colorado River, near the border with United States, two
groups of men dressed in black torture a man and a woman. Three of them hold a blonde
woman; she screams in fear and terror. Another group of three holds a naked man. The
electric blue light of the torture stick illuminates the surrounding darkness. The woman is
marine biologist GABRIELLA GIRARDI, 24, blonde, American, educated in United States
and Mexico. The man being tortured is journalist CRISTOBAL SANTILLÁNEZ, 34.
A few months before, Cristóbal had received an urgent call from Gabriella telling him about
the sudden death of 450 sea mammals in the Sea of Cortez. One night a fisherman invites
them to a boat ride in the dark sea where they witness drug dealers using a deadly liquid
chemical called NK19 to trace a circle in the water. This chemical becomes cyanide at the
touch of water, but also becomes a fluorescent blue mark in the dark sea, an indicator for
the airplanes to drop drugs; the drugs are to be picked up by small boats, then transported
to the border. Without knowing, Cristóbal and Gabriella had entered the dangerous world
of drug trafficking, the world of lord dealer Chichi Prieta. Cristobal goes to Nazario Rosas,
owner of a daily newspaper and a friend from his younger days in the border city of San
Luis; Rosas, a modern Don Quixote, invites Cristóbal to investigate two important groups
of the most dangerous cartels in Mexico: Chichi Prieta and Vicente Heredia, themselves
fighting a daily bloody battle for territory. Soon, both Gabriella and Cristobal delve more and
more deeply into the drug dealers' world. Later, Nazario Rosas is gunned down in front of
his newspaper office. Cristóbal and Gabriella are kidnapped and tortured by thugs who
want the pair to reveal their informants. Fortunately, a group of bird watchers rescues them
and they are hospitalized in Arizona. Gabriella pleads with Cristóbal to drop their
investigation, but he tells her that if he does so, then Nazario will have died in vain.
Cristobal subsequently learns about a small jet, loaded with five tons of cocaine,
scheduled to land in the Sonoran Desert. The U.S. DEA, the Mexican Federal Police, and
the Mexican army converge in a gripping climax to the novel.
Published Novels: Voices from the Sea (published in Spanish as Las voces vienen del
mar in 1992 by ISC). The Sufferings of Puerto Esperanza (Honorable Mention
1995-published in Spanish as Los sufrimientos de Puerto Esperanza by Conaculta/ISC).
Camino del Diablo (Published in Spanish in 1997 by ISC). I am not Afraid to Die
(published in Spanish as No me da miedo morir in April 2003 and sold to Silver Lion
Films in October 2005). His new novel Return to Puerto Esperanza (2006) will be
published soon.
Guillermo Munro is an author, scriptwriter and historian of the Gran Desierto and the Sea
of Cortez. He is the editor and director of Nuestra gente, a monthly magazine of history,
interviews, chronicles and legends of the northwest of Sonora, now on its fourth year.
gmunro@gmunro.com Phone in USA 661-296-8913 and 619-216-6338 and in Mexico:
638-383-3792
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