Ana Torres is a Texas Ranger assigned to a dusty outpost to protect the border. When she discovers the body of a dead crosser, the stage is set for an investigation and a confrontation in the nighttime desert. Luis Gonzalez lives on the Mexican side, helping those who seek a better life in the north while looking for peace in his own way. Marisol Herrera, a border crosser, braves hardship and dangers on her journey from the high mountains of El Salvador to the sun-blasted flats of the Mexico/Texas border. She is alone, chasing a dream, but threatened by the realities of la frontera. The...

Rosie Bratton is a recovering alcoholic. Divorced, working a dead end job, and with a young daughter she only sees on alternate weekends, her life is going nowhere. Her hopes hang on the outcome of a custody battle to regain primary custody of her daughter, and the vague possibility things might get better together. When circumstances turn bleak, Rosie nearly retreats into the bottle, but her sponsor has a solution. Felix was once a mixed martial arts contender. Now, he's turned his talent toward teaching his skills to others. If Rosie becomes his student, he hopes she can learn how to be a...

Stories and essays by Ken Bruen, Jim Cornelius, Garnett Elliott, Bradley Mason Hamlin, Sam Hawken, Mike MacLean, Craig McDonald, Manuel Ramos, Steve Rogers, Tom Russell, James Sallis, Martin Solares, John Stickney, Dave Zeltserman. Edited by Craig McDonald Welcome to La Frontera: You're headed way out west this time, intrepid reader, far past where you've dared go before.
Your troubled guides along these dusty, bloody stretches of The Devil's Highway are much-awarded crime novelists, journalists, and border-dwelling troubadours. They serve up stories and essays about lives threatened...