Triple Crossing

Rotella, the author of and organized crime reporter for , writes what he knows in this fiction debut. When rookie Border Patrol agent Valentine Pescatore literally crosses The Line in San Diego (the border) pursuing a suspect, that's all the leverage agent Isabel Puente needs to get Pescatore to go undercover to investigate his supervisor's criminal connections on both sides of the border. Puente's counterpart in Mexico is Leo Méndez, head of an anticorruption task force that is hunting Junior Ruiz Caballero, a gangster who is the nephew of a senator and has federal and state police in his pocket. A pair of shootings at the border leaves several dead and Pescatore welcomed as the newest member of Caballero's Death Patrol. Neither Puente nor Méndez is sure they can trust Valentine, but he is their best hope to capture Ruiz Caballero when Junior flees to South America's Triple Border region. Rotella's crime drama captures the feel of the rampant corruption that is the stuff of headlines in the United States and Mexico. This should satisfy readers far beyond the border. [See Prepub Alert, 2/14/11.]—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Rotella, the author of Twilight on the Line and organized crime reporter for ProPublica, writes what he knows in this fiction debut. When rookie Border Patrol agent Valentine Pescatore literally crosses The Line in San Diego (the border) pursuing a suspect, that's all the leverage agent Isabel Puente needs to get Pescatore to go undercover to investigate his supervisor's criminal connections on both sides of the border. Puente's counterpart in Mexico is Leo Méndez, head of an anticorruption task force that is hunting Junior Ruiz Caballero, a gangster who is the nephew of a senator and has federal and state police in his pocket. A pair of shootings at the border leaves several dead and Pescatore welcomed as the newest member of Caballero's Death Patrol. Neither Puente nor Méndez is sure they can trust Valentine, but he is their best hope to capture Ruiz Caballero when Junior flees to South America's Triple Border region.