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The US-Mexico border is a smuggler’s paradise.
For Valentine Pescatore, a US border agent trying to hold back the tide of drugs, money, guns and people, it feels more like hell. But when he gets in trouble and is recruited by federal investigator Isabel Puente to go undercover, he realises things can always get worse.
In Tijuana, Mexican anti-corruption chief Leo Mendez has made enemies on both sides of the law. Pescatore could be an ally. But in a world built on lies, how does anyone know who to trust? As violence escalates, the answer comes in bloodshed and betrayal.
For Valentine Pescatore, a US border agent trying to hold back the tide of drugs, money, guns and people, it feels more like hell. But when he gets in trouble and is recruited by federal investigator Isabel Puente to go undercover, he realises things can always get worse.
In Tijuana, Mexican anti-corruption chief Leo Mendez has made enemies on both sides of the law. Pescatore could be an ally. But in a world built on lies, how does anyone know who to trust? As violence escalates, the answer comes in bloodshed and betrayal.
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Reviews
An astonishingly impressive debut from an investigative journalist with a sharp eye for the duplicity that stalks the border between the U.S. and Mexico...a taut, lean and satisfying thriller that lingers in your mind long after you've finished it.
Rotella is an expert on the vicious anarchy of Mexican crime and politics...His balance of intimate storytelling and operatic scale is stunning.
One of the most accomplished first novels I have ever read...full of dangers, deep characters and a story writ on a grand scale...an important piece of work from an author whose voice should be heard
Employs a journalist's sharp eye and a novelist's deft touch to give us a rich portrait of the sights, smells, sounds, beauties and dangers of life south of the border...honest and engrossing
A fast-paced thriller that rings true to the real story behind the political posturing over the drug war, illegal immigration and border security.