Domingo is a Filipino-American who immigrated to the US as a young adult. His home country is now a far away place from his past, as he has become fully immersed in America to become a naturalized citizen. Now in his mid-40s, his reputation as a bail enforcement agent AKA bounty hunter precedes him. And his new assignment rings like deja vu. The undocumented immigrant next on his list is none other than Monica Reed. The same Monica Reed who he caught twice yet who “escaped” twice. And now he has to find her again for the sake of her stepmother, who wants to make amends and leave an inheritance. But as he gathers clues as to her whereabouts, he begins to unravel a much bigger truth that might have made her a target for something more sinister than deportation. Multo by Cindy Fazzi is a debut thriller in which Domingo tirelessly searches for the one that got away before it’s too late. 

Nineteen years ago, Monica came to the US from the Phillipines to look for her father, Army General Leonard Reed. During his time in the Vietnam War, he met Monica’s mother, who then became pregnant from their time spent together. At age 25, Monica had hoped that he would help her become a US citizen herself and she could have her own American dream. On the contrary, General Reed wants nothing to do with her. In fact, her very existence threatens his chances of becoming CIA Director. So he hires 21-year-old Domingo to find her and bring her in. Which he does. But after having a conversation with her and learning about her circumstances, he decides to let her go. Little did he know that Reed would hire him to look for her again ten years later. 

The second time that Reed hires Domingo to find his daughter, it is because he needs her help. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say his days are limited and he needs medical intervention – and the only family member he has happens to be Monica. But when Domingo finds her and reunites the two, he realizes something isn’t quite right. And what he learns doesn’t bode well for Monica. So he lets her go. Again. And he begins calling her the Multo – ghost in tagalog. 

In present day, he has to find Monica for a third time. But this time it appears that she’s missing. As he follows leads and gathers information, he learns that multiple people have motive to make her disappear. And for Monica’s sake, Domingo races against the clock to track her down – or worse, determine what happened to her. 

Considering this is her debut novel, Fazzi shows her knack for suspense building and character depth. In between his jobs, Domingo works on his book that shares advice for those wishing to earn US citizenship. Even though he is short compared to the average man, he still packs a punch – both figuratively and literally. I admired how resourceful he is in doing his job – catching immigrants who have committed crimes so that they can be deported. But he definitely has a moral code – hence the book. 

Multo is also presented with flashbacks to 1998 and 2008, giving the readers the much desired details as to what went down between Domingo and Monica that resulted in her “freedom”, twice. Additionally, Fazzi delivers the hard truths about the path to US Citizenship and the perceived hypocrisy of society’s views towards immigrants. And even though the pacing is a bit slow, the mystery is sophisticated enough to keep readers engaged.  The story definitely picks up towards the end of the book, reaching a conclusion that readers won’t expect. 

Cindy Fazzi joins The Nerd Cantina Show guest list for a Cantina Conversation. She shares how her personal experiences as a naturalized US Citizen from the Philippines influenced this book, and her plans for future works. Keep an ear out for the interview and preorder Multo, available September 26.