Twilight on the Line: Underworlds and Politics at the Mexican Border

A terrific journalist, Sebastian Rotella was the LA Times guy in Mexico, now he's in South America. This is a great read for anyone who wonders what goes on at the border besides guards, people spilling over walls and American teens going to Tijuana to drink. He explores both sides of the fence and scratches the surface to find out what lies beneath.

This is a captivating book about the amazing underworld and life of the US/Mexico border between Tijuana and San Diego. Rotella did many in depth interviews and first-person research in writing this book. The reader can feel the desperation of those he met with and quotes frequently, several of whom have been killed in the past few years for their efforts to end corruption and drug trafficking in Mexico. For anyone not familiar with the corruption and assassination scandals to come out of Mexico in the past decade, this book will simply amaze you. For those who are more familiar with Mexico's political situation and how it relates to the U.S.'s southern border, and the people directly affected by immigration there, this book is still an informational, emotional account worth reading.

From the first page, you will not be able to stop until the last one. Backed with a deep professional research, this story of real life is told in such an intelligent narrative style that it seems like a novel. Clever, entertaining, revealing and enjoyable. A must!

Vivid descriptions and compelling scenarios make this book such fascinating reading that it's disappointing to discover that "Twilight" focuses almost exclusively on Tijuana, while ignoring the other 1980 miles of the border. The description of the Colosio investigations get a bit tedious, but overall the book provides excellent reading on a timely topic.

Rotella is to be commended for this very informative page-turner. I especially appreciate that he takes an almost apolitical view of the wrenching potentially inflammatory realities he covers; this addresses the intelligence of the reader, and allows the reader to form her or his own opinions. I have read many books on the subject of the Mexican/American border. This one is the best thus far. Journalism of the highest order.