Death Rattle

May 15, 2020
The journey from Tijuana to California can be perilous, especially when the transportation is a leaky, overcrowded boat. Carmen Vega is making the trip to escape from poverty and an abusive, murderous boyfriend. After nearly making it unscathed, she falls overboard but is rescued by Nick Finn, a border-patrol agent who arrived by helicopter to save the boat's passengers. Carmen is soon shipped to a privately operated migrant-detention center, and, in short order, she's dead. Finn, who took an interest in Carmen, isn't satisfied with the official explanation and, working with his wife, human-rights lawyer Mona Jimenez, is determined to find out what really happened. What they don't realize is that the private firm running the detention center is about to sign a billion-dollar contract to operate all of Homeland Security's detention centers. Finn and Jimenez's investigation could cost the company the contract. A billion dollars is a strong incentive to wipe Finn and Jimenez off the board. This is a solid thriller on a timely subject and will definitely strike a chord with critics of the U.S. government's immigration policy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

May 25, 2020
Gilly’s impressive sequel to 2015’s Devil’s Harbor opens with gutsy Nick Finn, a Customs and Border Protection Marine Interdiction agent, diving into frigid waters 10 miles southwest of Newport Beach, Calif., to save 20-year-old Carmen Vega from a sinking fishing boat. His fellow agents assist Nick in the tense rescue of the 21 other passengers aboard the vessel, which is illegally transporting Mexican migrants to the U.S. Despite his heroics, an official complaint against Nick removes him from active duty, and he’s assigned to a reserve base in Riverside, pending an investigation. Nick’s human rights lawyer wife, Mona Jimenez, later represents Carmen, working valiantly to defend her from deportation. But while she’s awaiting trial, Carmen dies under suspicious circumstances in a privately run immigration detention center. Mona and Nick must fight to expose the sordid truth behind Carmen’s death and the shady practices of the for-profit prison company. Though short on action and heavy on legal detail, the book’s strong focus on character and the gripping immigration court drama will keep readers turning the pages. Thriller fans will want to see more of Nick. Agent: Farley Chase, Chase Literary. (July)Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated the year the Devil's Harbor was published.