Missing

Jack Searle is an American widower, bringing up his two stepdaughters Lidia and Marina alone in the border town of Laredo after losing his wife to cancer. Jack often takes the girls to visit their Mexican family over the border in Nuevo Laredo. Marina, the elder sister, persuades him to let her go there without him one night, to attend a concert with her cousin Patricia. Jack wants to say no - Nuevo Laredo is a very dangerous city, controlled by drug cartels and devastated by violence and corruption. But eventually he agrees - she's growing up and he has to let her have some independence. Marina and Patricia head out to the concert, but they never come back. A frantic hunt for them begins, with Jack leading the way. But this is Nuevo Laredo, and girls go missing all the time here. They're lucky to find that a good cop - Gonzalo Soler - is leading their investigation, but soon the whole police force is suspended due to endemic corruption. The army take over the city, and finding the missing girls is not their priority. To survive this nightmare and have any chance of finding Marina and Patricia, Jack and Gonzalo must take the law into their own hands. Their efforts to find the girls become more and more dangerous, and they uncover truths about the city of Nuevo Laredo that neither one of them ever wanted to face.

About the Author :
Sam Hawken is the best-selling and Crime Writers' Association Dagger-nominated author ofThe Dead Women of Ju.rez, Tequila Sunset and Missing, collectively known as The Borderland Trilogy. He makes his home in Maryland with his wife and son.

Review :
Hawken trades in gritty realism Praise for Tequila Sunset Haunting ... recalls the best of James M. Cain A grim tale of foreboding ... explosive A fascinating, tense and engaging read that draws you into the lives of the characters with consummate ease until you reluctantly turn that final page Raw and gritty The novel is a thrilling ride, but it also makes you appreciate the seriousness behind it This brilliantly written, dramatic but vicious novel will keep you on tenterhooks all the way to the end...Tequila Sunset is realistically composed, deftly put together and drenched with violence and aggression that would make any sane person run for their life...Hopefully a book that will become a classic and will be read for years to come. Well worth losing sleep over A fast moving and well plotted story...Hawken continues to deliver Interesting, refreshing and engrossing Unsettlingly tense A dark, atmospheric book that reads like a draft for a Quentin Tarantino film A gripping, stylish thriller This is a dark and gritty read that excels in its evocative depiction of the hot and dusty town of Nuevo Laredo, bristling with the threat of violence. Not for the faint-hearted. Brutal and believable Hawken's prose is concrete, unadorned, brusquely vigorous, a form of noir minimalism.