El Gavilan

Starred review from October 3, 2011
As sobering and as urgent as tomorrow’s headlines, this searing novel by Edgar-finalist McDonald (Head Games) traces the struggle of the residents of fictional New Austin, Ohio, to cope with out-of-control illegal Latino immigrants. The town’s principled new police chief, Tell Lyon, a former Border Patrol sector chief whose wife and child recently died in a firebombing in the California borderlands, must contend with the brutal rape-murder of Thalia Ruiz, a young waitress and legal immigrant befriended by Horton County sheriff Able Hawk. Opposing Lyon and Hawk (gavilan in Spanish) are all-too-credible villains: Latino gangbangers, an unscrupulous journalist, and several crooked cops. Meanwhile, irresistible Patricia Maldonado, whose parents are “two of Horton County’s rare documented, naturalized Latinos,” provides Lyon steamy reasons to stay alive in this simmering cauldron of racial tensions and sadistic crimes. McDonald deftly balances his “now” against the “then” backstory as he dissects one of America’s most tormenting social problems.

December 1, 2011

Border-crossing crime fiction set in the Southwest might be common, but that set in rural Ohio is not. Welcome to a region that is not embracing its new demographics. The recently appointed police chief for the city of New Austin, Tell Lyon is a former Border Patrol officer who relocated to Middle America to escape the painful memories of his old life. When he meets the two local sheriffs, however, Tell realizes that vigilantism is thriving in this new Wild West. Soon after his arrival, a young Latina is found brutally raped and murdered in a field. Tell's instincts are good, but as the new guy, he often wonders if his law enforcement colleagues are playing on the same team. VERDICT Prepare for pure Western pulp with this plot-driven shoot-'em-up that replaces cowboys and Indians with sheriffs and illegal immigrants. Employing multiple narrators and flashing back and forth in time, the novel makes it clear that vengeance will be brutal. Veteran journalist and Edgar Award nominee McDonald's (Head Games) violent and bleak landscape frames an addictive read.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.