by Terell Byrd
Due to some special circumstances KRL was unable to review a movie this weekend. However, not wanting to disappoint our readers we are sharing a bonus mystery book review tonight in place of our Monday Movies Review! So why not take some time to pick up a new book and enjoy escaping through its pages this week, instead of escaping through the big screen. However, if you’d still like to catch a movie as well, we’ve posted our weekly special coupon for Dinuba Platinum Theatre at the end of this review along with a link to their movie times. Enjoy!
Sebastian Rotella is an award winning journalist with long term experience covering Latin America and stories on international borders. Triple Crossing is his first novel but will not be the last. Rotella brings immediacy and realism to this story of crime, corruption and the people who fight the very real forces of evil in our hemisphere. 
Valentine Pescatore, the main character in this book, fell into questionable company in his home town of Chicago. He has been given a chance to change course and make a career as a Border Patrol Agent. After probation, he spends his free time drinking or recovering from the latest binge. At night he works The Line–the most active section of the U.S. Border between Tijuana and San Diego. The Line has become a battle zone–a surreal hell of smugglers, drugs, terrorism and the pathos of the poor trying to survive.
Pescatore makes a disastrous mistake and is recruited to be an internal informant on his unit of the Border Patrol. What starts as reporting on his coworkers morphs into undercover work deep inside a Mexican crime family. The story rushes back and forth across international borders, not only the Mexican/American border but the triple borders of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. Murder, betrayal and adrenaline power the story to a realistic but satisfying ending.
In this book there are fascinating portraits of villains and saints who have all the faults and heroism of real people. It has the feel of front page headlines but genuine heart and compassion for those on both sides of the border who fight for what is right.
I was very impressed by the book. The twists and turns in the story are unexpected. Real problems are presented here without the slick pat answers that episodic television provides. Most importantly the novel emphasizes the importance of fighting the good fight, regardless of the personal cost. This is an exciting and rewarding volume – don’t miss it!
Click on the Indie Bookstores logo to buy Triple Crossing!
Many great movies are now playing at Dinuba Platinum Theatres 6. Showtimes can be found on their website.
Print this coupon and enjoy a special discount for Kings River Life readers only!
A bracing and well-written novel with the international drug trade and police corruption as a backdrop. Rotella is an LA Times reporter who has covered this territory in nonfiction. The writing is outstanding, the plot exciting and the scene settings realistic. Sometimes it takes a novel to tell the truth.