The House of the Scorpion is an exciting tail of trust and betrayal. The author, Nancey Farmer, did an amazing job of making an adventurous story. The main character is Matteo Alcaran, who is a clone of the notorious drug lord, El Patron. Matt lives in Opium, a stretch of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once know as Mexico. Most people consider Matt a monster, except for El Patron, Matt's caretaker Celia, and his new friend Maria. When he discovers the truth that El Patron just needs him for spare parts, he needs to escape. Yet, after awhile, Opium is on lock down and he needs to figure out why. Matt is threatened by a deadly cast of characters, including El Patron's devious family. There is no guarantee of freedom, but Matt will do anything to find out what's happening.
  
   The theme of this book is that it takes time to develop trust in other people. One example of this was when Matt's caretaker Celia, was always there for him, "Will you bring me back a present?"
"Of course...always"(pg.6).Later when Matt finally got out of the dungeon, Celia was there for him again,"My child,my child I didn't know you were here!"(pg.47).Yet another reason was when Celia told El Patron that,"I made Matt's heart to unstable to transplant"(pg.235).Another character that Matt found hard to trust was Maria. One example of this was on page 20 when Matt had broken glass in his feet and Maria, her sister, and friends sought help for him,"Carrying Matt between them,Maria followed."
Later on Matt and Maria were in the tunnels when she showed that she trusted him,"You're not a dog, you're much, much more"(pg.217).The final reason was when Matt and Maria met at the end again and she was there for him,"Oh,Mother! It's Matt! He's alive!"(pg.362).

 I would recommend this book for the thrill seeker, the Sci-Fi fascinated, and the adventurer. This book is also for people who love a twist.There are no sequels, but other books from the same author include: A Girl Named Disaster, The Warm Place, The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, and Do You Know Me? Anyone who is at least a little bit interested should look into it. It's a fascinating book.
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