PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING

Narrator Ramón de Ocampo expresses the many emotional shifts of Jay Reguero. The audiobook begins with Jay’s early memory of connection with his compassionate cousin, Jun, while visiting the Philippines, where he is originally from. Now 17, Jay finds himself unmotivated by college acceptance and dulled by video games. De Ocampo juxtaposes this fog with a rush of feelings when Jay learns of his cousin’s murder by the Filipino police for supposed drug use. Jay’s determination to discover the truth ends in a return to the Philippines and a change that affects him and his Filipino and American family members. De Ocampo enacts the gripping tension of President Duterte’s power, Jun’s father’s support of the regime, and family schisms. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2019]