Mona passage, hardcover/thomas bardenwerper

Mona Passage is the story of two neighbors in San Juan, Puerto Rico: Galán Betances, a Cuban emigrant, and Pat McAllister, a young Coast Guard officer.

During long evenings spent together talking on their Calle Luna rooftop, a deep friendship develops based on shared traumas and a common desire to heal.

When Galán learns that his sister, Gabriela, is going to be committed to a mental health facility in Cuba, he plans her escape to Puerto Rico.

Pat, whose Coast Guard cutter patrols the Mona Passage for drug traffickers and migrants, warns Galán that such a journey will be treacherous--perhaps fatal.

Aware of the dangers but determined for Gabriela to live a full life, Galán hands over all the money he has to a Dominican smuggler based out of a San Juan nightclub, and Gabriela begins her terrifying journey.

Knowing that his cutter may be all that separates Galán and Gabriela--and haunted by the human suffering he has witnessed at sea--Pat must decide.

Will he remain true to his oath, as his older brother had done in Iraq? Or will he risk his own future--and perhaps his freedom--for his closest friend? On a moonless night, two armed vessels converge in the Mona Passage , and three lives change forever.

About author(s): Thomas Buddy Bardenwerper served for five years in the US Coast Guard.

He is currently pursuing a JD and a masters in public policy at Harvard Law School and the Harvard John F.

Kennedy School of Government.