simon hadlee

Set against the backdrop of the war on drugs, environmental crisis and people disenfranchised by a corrupt world; Stray is the ultimate backpacking novel, a gripping journey into the Mexican ‘heart of darkness’. 

When Tom Mullinger, a twenty four year old slacker witnesses the murder of his friend, Dog in a botched drug deal he flees New Zealand to Mexico, broken, terrified and alone.

He follows Dog’s hand-drawn map to Ria Lagartos, a beautiful coastal town off the tourist trail, on the Yucatan Peninsula where he connects with Lorena – a fiery conservation scientist – and a group of environmental activists struggling to protect the area’s fragile ecosystem from over-exploitation and collapse.

However Ria Lagartos is reeling from a sudden increase in violence as the balance of power shifts in the Mexican cartel wars.  The dire economic reality of dwindling resources is forcing locals into smuggling or joining anti-cartel militias. Law and order is incrementally being replaced by cartel brutality and vigilante anarchy.

As Tom struggles to come to terms with his role in Dog’s death in New Zealand, the viciousness that surrounds the town eats away at Tom’s naive view of authentic Mexico. The hostility moves closer until Tom and Lorena must ruthlessly fight for their mutual survival against local cartel enforcers and a town that has turned against itself and outsiders.