Sing Her Down: #bookreview

Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda begins in Arizona women’s prison and ends at the corner of Olympic and Western in Los Angeles. Florence “Florida” Baum and Diosmary Sandoval are inmates at a women’s correctional facility at the time of the pandemic.

Dios knows Florida’s secret about her actual involvement in the murder of two men. Florida told a former cellmate the secret. Unfortunately, the cellmate started to tell people so Florida practically beat her to death. Dios ended up killing the cellmate and thought that she and Florida were kindred spirits. Their fellow inmate Kace, who carries voices of the dead within her, also knows the secret because

Florida and Dios get an early release from prison but are supposed to remain in quarantine for a period of time in Arizona. Since Florida’s car and former life are in Los Angeles, she begins to plan to violate her parole and cross state lines. Dios follows Florida wherever she goes. She’s obsessed with getting Florida to be who really is – a savage killer.

Florida was a party girl with no one who had her best interest in mind, not even her mother. Every man in her life was a loser and an abuser. In my opinion, she was angry about how a couple of drug dealers mistreated her. So she convinced her boyfriend to set a trap for them. He accepted the prison sentence that should have been Florida’s punishment.

Although she is probably a killer, Florida is mostly likable. She’s more of an anti-hero than a villain. Her violent nature is under control until it isn’t, unlike Dios who is a homicidal maniac. Dios has killed several people since being released from prison approximately two weeks before.

Florida used to live a glamorous life and drive a fast car. Since being in prison, she’s trying to figure out if she is Florence or Florida. Aren’t many of us trying to figure out who we really are?

Detective Lobos of Los Angeles is on the trail of Florida and Dios. She is also trying to avoid her abusive soon-to-be-ex husband. He pops up out of thin air to harass her. Although the ex doesn’t know anything about the trail of bodies following the former prisoners, he makes catching the elusive Dios and Florida very difficult.

Dios never has trouble finding Florida. It’s a little spooky. In the end, Florida finds Dios for their last meeting.

There’s a mural at the intersection of Olympic and Western that depicts the final showdown of Florida and Dios. Some people say it’s alive and has movement. People will probably talk about the story behind the mural for a long time. It reminds me of how people still talk about famous confrontations, such as the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the fictional version of the showdown between Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo.

If you like mysteries, westerns, or stories about people on the run, then you will love Sing Her Down.

If you are an inappropriate corrections officer or some other sort of degenerate, then I can’t say whether you would like this book or not. You should but you might not have good taste or judgment.

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• I received this ebook from NetGalley. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.

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