The Whore of Babylon, a Memoir

Prado’s latest novel centers on a mother who embarks on a mission to rescue her daughter from the mean streets of San Francisco. Margot Skinner can’t bear to see her 15-year-old daughter, Robyn, dolled up in fishnets and spiked heels while her room devolves into a sty and her truancy and rebelliousness accelerate…Aided by two private investigators and a streetwise nun, Margot scours the notorious Tenderloin district in search of her runaway daughter, who may have fallen into the clutches of a local pimp named Blu Boy….Prado writes in a visceral present tense, elevating her drama with crisp, sensory details, as she skillfully employs the solid pacing and atmosphere of a crime novel….Prado commands a robust vocabulary and tells a searing tale laced with disturbingly candid insight…This taut mix of memoir, novel and crime drama succeeds through vivid writing and soulful revelations.