Using the horrific crimes against the women in Ciudad Juárez as the backdrop for this novel is an effective way of bringing the topic to the forefront. As the story begins, Ivon Villa and her partner, Brigit, are adopting the baby of a pregnant factory worker. Ivon is returning to her hometown of El Paso to meet with the baby's mother.
No sooner has Ivon stepped off the plane when she's having showdowns with her mother, who doesn't approve of her lifestyle much less her choices, and she is confronted with the news of a crime wave that in the past five years has left more than 100 women dead. Why had she never heard of these crimes?
Understandably Ivon is upset, but when the crimes hit close to home and the mother of the unborn baby she was planning to adopt is murdered, Ivon realizes that she cannot stand by and not act. Ivon will soon find herself embroiled in the investigations when news of her sister's disappearance after a night at a carnival brings the action in the novel to its peak.
Alicia Gaspar de Alba presents the readers with a fictionalized account of true events but her theories are not ones to take lightly. Her protagonist's investigations look at the role of organized crime, the border patrol, gangs and even the factories.
This isn't an easy novel to read. There is a lot of violence and knowing that it's based on fact makes it that much harder to take, but what is exceptional is that the author presents the reader with resolution to the crimes.
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