This is the sequel to The House of Scorpion. Continuing the story we get to see the changing of the guard. As a stand alone it is not as good as the first book, but the writing was good. I did not like that the author killed off the guide character just to reinsert the same character. I would have liked a much different person in that role or a whole new direction. Other than that is was not as distracting as I make it. If you read the first book it would be worth your time to read the sequel.