A plague has brought death to the city. Two feuding crime families with blood on their hands need our hard-boiled hero, the Redeemer, to broker peace. Both his instincts and the vacant streets warn him to stay indoors, but the Redeemer ventures out into the city's underbelly to arrange for the exchange of the bodies they hold hostage. Yuri Herrera's novel is a response to the violence of contemporary Mexico. With echoes of Romeo and Juliet, Roberto...

"Yuri Herrera does not simply write about the border between Mexico and the United States and those who cross it. He explores the crossings and translations people make in their minds and language as they move from one country to another, especially when there's no going back. Traversing this lonely territory is Makina, a young woman who knows only too well how to survive in a violent, macho world. Leaving behind her life in Mexico to search for her...