Wow, what a story. Drugs and Mexico don't mix and these two boys figure that out fast and wind up in a Mexican jail. . Trying to make the best of the situation, one of the young men tries to start a theater group to pass the time and learn spanish.

I'd like to see this made into a movie. Very charismatic.

This is a story about two guys who decide to go on an adventure during Christmas break at college, and take their rent and tuition money down to Mexico and try to turn it into some cocaine that they can take back to the dorms and sell to make a profit, or maybe trade the Bronco they are driving with stolen plates for drugs. Richard bought it just for that purpose on a low payment plan, then reported it stolen just before leaving. They planned for months and think they have it all covered. They have second thoughts just before they go, but decide this is the perfect time to do it. They will be ok and come back with some good drugs that they can sell and make some good money to pay for their rent and tuition for the rest of the whole year, and be set good.

Of course, things don’t work out quite as they’ve planned, as they are total greenhorns with no experience and they get arrested. They end up in a Mexican prison with little money, no Bronco and no drugs to sell. They are in a lot of trouble. They need to come up with money for a lawyer to either try to get them a lighter sentence, or bribe their way out, or get them transferred to serve the remainder of their sentence in the US. The friends, Jeff and Richard, are becoming more at odds the longer this goes on, and by the time they are locked up in prison for a few weeks, they are barely talking. They can’t agree on how to handle the situation. Richard knows that they have done wrong, and that they have to take responsibility and do their time. Jeff however, feels that since they were only able to end up with marijuana, which is hardly worse than alcohol and should be legal, they shouldn’t be locked up at all, in his mind. So he is going to try to find a way to escape and not even bother trying to find a lawyer or contacting anyone back home. He seems very jittery and stares out the window a lot.

Richard decides to try and get a theatre group started, for something to pass the time, as he figures he’ll be there at least a couple of years, and he was planning on starting one that was independent back at college after the holiday break was over. He had talked to the others involved in it, to see if there was any interest and they seemed skeptical but interested. So he put out feelers in the prison to see if he could get any actors and helpers, and also set out to learn Spanish in a hurry.

I recommend this book for those that enjoy this type of memoir. I’ve read other books by the co-writer and he does a good job. This turned out to be a decent story to check out and I’m glad I read it. A bit of true crime, prison insider things and trying to make something positive out of the situation. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, authors Richard Jewkes with Brian Whitney, and the publisher.