Desert Blood by Alicia Gaspar De Alba

Desert Blood

The Juarez Murders

Alicia Gaspar De Alba

It’s the summer of 1998 and for five years, over a hundred mangled and desecrated bodies have been found dumped in the Chihuahua desert outside of Juarez Mexico, just across the river from El Paso, Texas. The perpetrators of the ever-rising number of violent deaths target poor young women, terrifying inhabitants on both sides of the border.

El Paso native Ivon Villa has returned to her hometown to adopt the baby of Cecilia, a pregnant maquiladora worker in Juárez. When Cecilia turns up strangled and disemboweled in the desert, Ivon is thrown into the churning chaos of abuse and murder. Even as the rapes and killings of ‘girls from the south’ continue–their tragic stories written in desert blood–a conspiracy covers up the crimes that implicate everyone from the Maquiladora Association to the Border Patrol.

When Ivon’s younger sister gets kidnapped in Juárez, Ivon knows that it’s up to her to find her sister, whatever it takes. Despite the sharp warnings she gets from family, friends, and nervous officials, Ivon’s investigation moves her deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of silence.

From acclaimed poet and prose-writer Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Desert Blood is a gripping thriller that ponders the effects of patriarchy, gender identity, border culture, transnationalism, and globalization on an international crisis.

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Details

ISBN	1558855084
Genre	Chicana/Latinx Interest; Intrigue/Thriller; Mystery
Publication Date	Aug-07
Publisher	Arte Publico Press
Format	Trade Paperback
No. of Pages	346
Notes	Lambda Literary Award Winner
Language	English
Rating	Great
BookID	2935