Down the Rabbit Hole

Through a child’s eyes, the Mexican author's debut novella “brilliantly encapsulates the chaos of a lawless existence . . . under the sway of drug lords” (Lucy Popescu, The Independent, UK).

Tochtli lives in a palace. He loves hats, samurai, guillotines, and dictionaries. What he wants more than anything right now is a new pet for his private zoo: a pygmy hippopotamus from Liberia.

But Tochtli is a child whose father is a drug baron on the verge of taking over a powerful cartel. His palacial home is a luxury hideout that he shares with hit men, prostitutes, dealers, servants, and the odd corrupt politician or two.

Longlisted for The Guardian First Book Award, Down the Rabbit Hole, a masterful and darkly comic first novel, is the chronicle of a delirious journey to grant a child’s wish.

“A brief and majestic debut.” —Matias Nespolo, El Mundo