Better Must Come

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Author(s)

Desmond Hall

Publisher

Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Genre(s)

Age Range

14+

Release Date

June 04, 2024

ISBN

978-1534460744

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Barely Missing Everything meets American Street in this fiercely evocative, action-packed young adult thriller that looks at the darker side of light-filled Jamaica and how a tragedy and missing drug money helplessly entangle the lives of two teens who want to change their fate.

Deja is a “barrel girl”—one of the Jamaican kids who get barrels full of clothes, food, and treats shipped to them from parents who have moved to the US or Canada to make more money. Gabriel is caught up in a gang and desperate for a way out. When he meets Deja at a party, he starts looking for a way into her life and wonders if they could be a part of each other’s futures.

Then, one day while out fishing, Deja spies a go-fast boat stalled out by some rocks, smeared with blood. Inside, a badly wounded man thrusts a knapsack at her, begging her to deliver it to his original destination, and to not say a word. She binds his wounds, determined to send for help and make good on her promise…not realizing that the bag is stuffed with $500,000 American. Not realizing that the posse Gabriel is in will stop at nothing to get their hands on this bag—or that Gabriel’s and her lives will intersect in ways neither ever imagined, as they both are forced to make split-second choices to keep the ones they love most alive.

Editor review

1 review

Ordinary life should not be a crime thriller

August 07, 2024

Overall rating

4.7

Plot

5.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Deja lives in Springtown Harbor, Jamaica with her young brother and sister, Donovan and Kaleisha. Their father is working in Costa Rica but never contacts them, and their mother is living in Brooklyn, trying to earn money and sending home barrels of supplies. Being "barrel kids" is hard on the family, since others are jealous of the US products they have, not understanding how much they all miss their mother. Since Deja is the oldest, she not only goes to school, but helps her uncle out with his fishing boat and even fishes to try to earn a little extra money. It's exhausting, taking care of the family, but she has no choice. When her mother calls from New York, it is with devastating news. She's been mugged, and all of her "partner money" has been lost. This means that the mother won't be home for Christmas, won't be able to send money for school fees, and won't even be able to send a supply barrel. Deja is on her own.

When Deja was out fishing, she had seen a boat with an injured man on it, and not stopped, knowing that there are a lot of problems with drug runners in the area. When the boat is still there the next day, she tries to help the man, who asks her to take a bag with $500,000, not "let them get it", and deliver it to someone named Webber in exchange for a reward. Still leery, Deja agrees, and takes the money home.

At the same time, we see Gabriel's life. He and Deja has recently met, and like each other, but have very different lifestyles. Gabriel was raised in an orphanage, but taken in by an aunt who is a drug addict. He was taken into a posse, where he has to make drops, but would like to get out, even though he and Hammer, another member, are good friends. He even talks to pastor and ex-posse member, Chops about it. He thinks he might have a chance to get out when a man offers him a lot of money if he and Hammer can get a large quantity of cocaine, which would move them into a different level of distribution. The man offered this opportunity? Webber.

Deja consults the pastor about what she should do, calls the number she has, and arranges to meet Webber to hand off the money. It's not an easy journey. At the same time, Gabrielle and Hammer come across a drug deal gone wrong. The three meet up at a checkpoint. Deja knows she has to get away, but feels that Gabrielle doesn't have her best interest at heart. It's a harrowing journey to meet up with Webber, but he's reassuring. When things become complicated, is there any hope that anyone will break free from the hold that the drug culture has on their neighborhood?

Good Points

This was a complicated Young Adult book, with some mature language, but was very interesting. It's definitely a slow burning thriller that will appeal to fans of Deuker's Runner or other crime thrillers. Deja knows from the beginning that she can't keep the money, and that her future lies with doing the right thing and getting the money back to the DEA. Gabrielle's journey is more complicated, but so was his past. I really enjoyed the fact that, in the end, the story concluded happily for them both.

The real draw here are the details of everyday life in Jamaica, and the struggles that ordinary high school students have. I'm a big proponent of the "things could always be worse" philosophy, but if I were in Deja's shoes, I like to think I would believe that Better Must Come.