Books like The Devil's Highway: A True Story

of all the books i've read on the subject, this is the best. the story itself is harrowing, of course, and urrea is one hell of a writer. rather than tell a linear story of the 26 mexicans who walked across the devil's highway (only 12 lived to tell the tale), he offers a kaleidoscopic view of the whole machine: border patrol, mexican gangsters, coyotes, arizona, texas, vera cruz, the rio grande, sonora, and the eyeball-drying life-taking sweat-sucking scorching terrible terrible terrible dantean devil's highway itself: the most quiet, serene, and, yes, hostile place on the planet. i read this in a single night and went to sleep feeling like shit, both physically and spiritually. ugh. a vile and fantastic book.