The Way of the Jaguar

The story of Ismael Diaz, a successful real estate lawyer in Boston, whose trespass on his neighbor's property to put out a fire sets off a chain reaction of events that ends with him on death row. In prison he writes a diary that reconstructs his life and the circumstances that led him to commit murder and learns "the way of the jaguar" from another inmate. Partly ancient Aztec philosophy and partly an idiosyncratic, extrapolated doctrine, it entails facing down death itself and accepting life. This knowledge finally enableds Diaz to make the most important decision he has ever made.