The characters

Mat Jacobson

The main character of the novel. We follow his view of the story from the moment when he mysteriously finds himself in a dark abandoned hospital with no recent memory, following the eerie sound of a woman screaming in the distance.

Mat, a depressed underdog, works for a Latino gang in Los Angeles, smuggling steroids from Tihuana inside his own bloodstream. The gang is part of a larger drug cartel which uses a new scientific method of smuggling drugs and steroids, with Mat as their mule. He is injected the substance in an inert state and then has to cross the border and be processed by the cartel doctors within fourteen hours, otherwise he dies. He crosses the border twice a week and the whole thing negatively affects his health. The story follows Mat along a terrifying journey.


Alejandro Martinez "Marty" Peredes

He uses a fake aristocratic name to accompany his uncommonly lame nickname 'Marty'. A Latino gang member since he was 13, for the past fifteen years he's been climbing up the ladder, getting closer and closer to the top, the drug cartel familia. Marty was the one who found Mat Jacobson sitting on a park bench and thought he would make a good mule for his steroid trafficking operations. A steroid user himself and wannabe pro bodybuilder, Marty is always nervous and edgy and sometimes seems out of touch with reality, but when it comes to business, he's a real professional. He always provides support to Mat when he needs help crossing the border or when his medication needs re-adjusting. When Marty's not dealing with gangs, cocaine and voodoo dolls, he likes to think that he works out properly at a posh L.A. and he also takes care of his home aquarium, something he keeps secret from the gang, as it would damage his reputation.


Charles Webber A.K.A. 'Hector El Cobra'

Hector is supposedly an undercover whose loyalties are in question, his actions deemed ambivalent between the law and the 'Los Muertos' gang he has infiltrated. His high intelligence and education are hard to distinguish because he's so good at hiding them, all being part of the act. The word on the street is that he has his own personal agenda and, generally, he is not considered a trustworthy individual, although he is feared by the local gangs due to the sinister occult legends surrounding his name. He offers Mat a dilemma, a way out of his dependence on Marty's gang by betraying them and allying with Hector's.


Dr. Theodor 'Tod' Vasiliev
Tod is a successful plastic surgeon who is politically motivated and who services the cartels on the side by being part of the steroid smuggling trade. He extracts the inert steroids from Mat's blood after he has crossed the border to the States. His funny exterior and entertaining manner of speech make him a rather interesting individual. He genuinely cares about Mat's medical condition, so long as taking care of it doesn't interfere with his own plans.



Other character will be introduced as the story unfolds...