I've read and watched lots of crime dramas this year, and they can present some really creepy, disturbing scenarios. This novel is definitely one of the more creepy, disturbing crime dramas I've come across lately, not just because of the idea of a whole network of well-placed men preying upon women long enough to rack up a death toll of over 140 women, but because this book is based on real events. There really are thousands of missing and dead Hispanic women in the border towns and cities, whose lives are valued so little by the local criminal and judicial systems that the crimes against them will never be investigated. While they may not all be victims of snuff rings, I've no doubt that for some of those missing women in real life that is exactly what happened to them.

Reading a novelization of this nightmarish mess is not entertaining, and my knowing about this stuff may not change anything for the better, but I do like reading about real problems like this occasionally just so that they do not remain quite as completely under the radar and invisible. If you find rape and assault narratives particularly disturbing, this book may be too rough a read for you, but it is a well written novel and the issues it addresses are important. ( )

Es el verano de 1998 y durante cinco años más de un centenar de cuerpos mutilados y profanados han sido encontrados tirados en el desierto de Chihuahua fuera de Juárez, México, justo al otro lado del río de El Paso, Texas. Los autores del siempre creciente número de muertes violentas se dirigen a las mujeres jóvenes pobres, aterradores habitantes en ambos lados de la frontera. El Paso nativa Ivón Villa ha vuelto a su ciudad natal para adoptar al bebé de Cecilia, una trabajadora embarazada maquiladora en Juárez. Cuando Cecilia aparece estrangulada y destripada en el desierto, Ivón se ve inmersa en el caos del abuso y asesinato. A pesar de que las violaciones y asesinatos de chicas "del sur" continúan, una conspiración encubre los crímenes que implican a todos, desde la Asociación de Maquiladoras hasta la patrulla fronteriza. Cuando la hermana menor de Ivón es secuestrada en Juárez, Ivón sabe que le toca a ella para encontrar a su hermana, lo que sea necesario. A pesar de las severas advertencias que recibe de familiares, amigos y funcionarios nerviosos, la investigación de su Ivón se mueve más y más en el laberinto de silencio. De aclamado poeta y prosista Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Desierto de sangre es un apasionante thriller que reflexiona sobre los efectos del patriarcado, la identidad de género, la cultura fronteriza, transnacionalismo y la globalización en una crisis internacional. ( )

Desert Blood: The Juarez Murders is a chilling novel that uncovers the horrible truth of what happens at the El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico border. Hundreds of women, from teens to middle-age wives, are kidnapped, raped, tortured, used for experiments, and killed in the desert. While this may seem like an awful book that has too much controversial material, it is all relevant to what is currently happening not only in Texas/Mexico, but all throughout the world with severe mistreatment of women, exploitation, and murder. The investigation that takes place during the novel also uncovers complex characters and relationships that illustrate both conventional and modern gender roles. Perhaps not necessarily a central part of the curriculum, excerpts can be used appropriately to promote awareness of the injustice and tragedies that are constantly being covered up by the media and those in social, economic, and political power. In addition, it ties in greatly with the exponentially growing Hispanic population in the U.S. and how Mexican-Americans view themselves and how society views them in turn. Students can relate to this through a variety of means—based on gender (several main characters are gay), race/ethnicity (struggling with identifying yourself as an American, a Mexican, and/or a Mexican-American), current social and political ideals regarding American and Chicano relations (immigration stereotypes), etc. I believe that students can relate to this book in the sheer fact that so many of these sorts of things go unnoticed and undiscovered in classrooms throughout the nation. If they can shed light on huge issues and become passionate about one, their horizons will be expanded as they read other sources to learn more.