The Lucky Ones

A Novel

By: Julianne Pachico

Narrated by: Marisol Ramirez, Ramón de Ocampo

A literary jigsaw puzzle of a debut novel set in Colombia during the peak of its decades-long conflict, and in New York City.

While her parents are away, a teenager finds herself home alone, with the household staff mysteriously gone, no phone connection, and news of an insurgency on the radio - and then she hears a knock at the door. Her teacher, who has been kidnapped by guerrillas, recites Shakespeare in the jungle to a class of sticks, leaves, and stones while his captors watch his every move. Another classmate, who has fled Colombia for the clubs of New York, is unable to forget the life she left behind without the help of the little bags of powder she carries with her.

Taking place over two decades, The Lucky Ones presents us with a world in which perpetrators are indistinguishable from saviors, the truth is elusive, and loved ones can disappear without a trace. A prismatic tale of a group of characters who emerge and recede throughout the novel and touch one another's lives in ways even they cannot comprehend, The Lucky Ones captures the intensity of life in Colombia as paramilitaries, guerrillas, and drug traffickers tear the country apart. Combining vivid descriptions of life under siege with a hallucinatory feel that befits its violent world, The Lucky Ones introduces a truly original and exciting new voice in fiction.

©2017 Julianne Pachico (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"An expansive tapestry of a debut." ( Elle)

"Riveting.... [A] carefully yet fiercely composed collage of voices that bears witness to the executions, forced disappearances, and other atrocities that took place in Colombia from 1993 to 2013 during the country's violent civil war.... [A] searing glimpse into the conflict.... Having lived in Colombia until she turned 18, Pachico has a firsthand connection to the country's charms and troubles that shines through on every gripping page." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Julianne Pachico's tough and stunning novel set in both the Colombian and New York drug jungles kept this reader up all night and made her double-check that her front door was locked tight." (Lily Tuck, National Book Award-winning author of The News from Paraguay and The Double Life of Liliane)