THIS SIDE OF NIGHT

Lawmen face a group of brutal killers along the Mexican borderlands in the author’s third West Texas thriller (High White Sun, 2018, etc.).

In Mexico, violent groups fighting to dominate the lucrative drug trade will stop at nothing. Two busloads of normalistas, or student teachers, are stopped and shot. Three are killed, many wounded, and 19 are missing. Across the border, Deputy Sheriff Danny Ford discovers bodies floating in the Rio Grande, known in Mexico as the Río Bravo. Enemies of vicious crime lord Fox Uno may have orchestrated the crimes so the blame would fall on him—quite plausible for a killer who says “I am Death, my friend.” Those enemies plotting a hostile takeover include his own son, Martino. Fox Uno crosses over to Murfee, Texas, to see his niece, America. Nicknamed Amé, she is deputy to Sheriff Chris Cherry, the embattled star of the series. His bailiwick is the vast Big Bend region, including a borderland called “a blighted war zone.” The Mexican government wants U.S. help in solving the crimes, getting Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent Joe Garrison and Sheriff Cherry’s department involved. The novel is filled with colorful characters and memorable lines. Eddy Lee “Take-Out” Rabbit is a pathetic meth addict who wants to recover but probably won’t. Deputy Danny Ford, an Afghanistan vet, remembers “You never forgot the smell of a fresh corpse.” And if readers want to get prompt police attention, they can quote Martino’s observation that “It took a surprisingly long time to cut all the way through a man’s neck.” Meanwhile, Cherry expects to lose reelection while he worries about the safety of his wife, Mel, and their infant son. The story’s premise is based on a real event, the disappearance of 43 normalistas in 2014. The author exploits his decades of experience as a federal agent to create a powerful, realistic picture of crime along the southern border.

Thriller fans will enjoy this absorbing and disturbing book.