A really great recommendation by a girlfriend... Urrea compiles all the detail of the Yuma 14, which were a group of men from Mexico who were looking to cross the border in to the U.S. to find work and in search to improve their quality of life back home. Relying on a gang of Coyotes, the men both young and old, cross the border into the hottest deserts in the U.S., the devil's highway. The week they crossed it was reported that the temperature at midnight was a low 95 degrees, while the high was 108. Not only was it the lack of water (they only had waterbottles vs. the 2 gallons recommended per person per day), but it was the rough terrain and horrible tendencies of their guide that lead more than half of the group to death. Urrea chronicles each detail, including the interests and slight personalities of each walker,and how they were found in there death (black like leather) which sometimes sounds more exaggerated or he really did his research. He also becomes too cynical at times. I like how he alternates with the story of the Yuma 14, and very informational accounts of other tragic occasions where others have died (even Gringos), the science of how the body decomposes in heat, and the history of the region itself. A well rounded story with a sociological perspective of why border crossing persists with horrendous deaths, the economic cost of these deaths and low cost labor, as well a other situations -like the conspiracy theories behind the hundred unexplained rapings and deaths of young women in Juarez. holy shit.