by Nancy Farmer
He heard doves calling in the palo verde trees and smelled dust raised by horses’ hooves in a corral. He heard men laughing as they played cards under the ramadas. It seemed so peaceful and normal, though of course it wasn’t normal. Opium thrived on the blood of Illegals. But if Esperanza had her way, might she not order everyone killed here, too?
“It isn’t easy being good, is it?” said Cienfuegos, cleaning his fingernails with the stiletto.
NANCY FARMER is the author of nine novels, including The Ear, the Eye and the Arm and A Girl Named Disaster, each a Newbery Honor Book, and The House of the Scorpion, winner of the National Book Award, as well as being a Newbery Honor Book and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. For somewhat younger readers, she has written a trilogy inspired by Norse mythology: The Sea of Trolls, The Land of the Silver Apples, and The Islands of the Blessed.
Nancy Farmer lives with her husband in the small town of Portal, Arizona, which is one of the settings for The Lord of Opium. Visit her online at nancyfarmerwebsite.com.
ALSO BY NANCY FARMER
The House of the Scorpion
The Sea of Trolls
The Land of Silver Apples
The Islands of the Blessed
A Girl Named Disaster
The Warm Place
The Ear, the Eye and the Arm
Do You Know Me
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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New York, New York 10020
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2002 by Nancy Farmer
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Book design by O’Lanso Gabbidon
The text for this book is set in Bembo.
First Edition
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Farmer, Nancy.
The house of the scorpion / Nancy Farmer.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 140-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.
ISBN 0-689-85222-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-6898-5222-0 (print)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-0655-6 (eBook)
[1. Cloning—Fiction. 2. Science fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.F23814 Mat 2002
[Fic]—dc21 2001056594