Death Rattle

by Alex Gilly

Overview

Every life has its price... A timely thriller for fans of Don Winslow's The Border

When Carmen Vega's boyfriend tries to kill her, she hands over all her savings to a smuggler and sets out from Tijuana in a small, leaky boat. Within sight of the California coast, the boat starts to sink, and its passengers are rescued by border patrol.

Soon, Carmen turns up dead in a privately-operated Migrant Detention Center. Neither Nick Finn, the officer who saved Carmen from drowning, nor his wife, human-rights lawyer Mona Jimenez, are satisfied with the prison's account of what happened to Carmen.

Trouble is, the company that runs the prison is on the verge of signing a billion-dollar procurement contract with Homeland Security. And there are people in this world for whom a billion dollars is worth a lot more than one human life. Or even three.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765377333
Publisher:	Tom Doherty Associates
Publication date:	07/14/2020
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

ALEX GILLY is a writer and translator who was born in New York City and has lived in Australia, Canada, France, California, and the UK. Devil's Harbor was his first novel. He currently lives in Sydney with his family.

Editorial Reviews

05/25/2020

Gilly’s impressive sequel to 2015’s Devil’s Harbor opens with gutsy Nick Finn, a Customs and Border Protection Marine Interdiction agent, diving into frigid waters 10 miles southwest of Newport Beach, Calif., to save 20-year-old Carmen Vega from a sinking fishing boat. His fellow agents assist Nick in the tense rescue of the 21 other passengers aboard the vessel, which is illegally transporting Mexican migrants to the U.S. Despite his heroics, an official complaint against Nick removes him from active duty, and he’s assigned to a reserve base in Riverside, pending an investigation. Nick’s human rights lawyer wife, Mona Jimenez, later represents Carmen, working valiantly to defend her from deportation. But while she’s awaiting trial, Carmen dies under suspicious circumstances in a privately run immigration detention center. Mona and Nick must fight to expose the sordid truth behind Carmen’s death and the shady practices of the for-profit prison company. Though short on action and heavy on legal detail, the book’s strong focus on character and the gripping immigration court drama will keep readers turning the pages. Thriller fans will want to see more of Nick. Agent: Farley Chase, Chase Literary. (July)Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated the year the Devil's Harbor was published.

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Death Rattle:

“What’s a border noir mystery without vicious drug cartels and desperate illegal migrants? Alex Gilly obligingly provides those joys in Death Rattle which is set in a town on the California-Mexico border laughably named Paradise.”—New York Times Book Review

“Impressive....will keep readers turning the pages. Thriller fans will want to see more of Nick.”—Publishers Weekly

Praise for Devil's Harbor:

“You're there, amidst the action, feeling, hearing, even smelling the tension. This is one of those labyrinths of mystery readers crave.”—Steve Berry

“[A] thrill-a-moment first novel…The ending is an unexpected nail-bitter that crackles with tension. Readers will look forward to seeing more of Nick.”—Publishers Weekly

“Buy it! Recommend it! The writing is exuberant yet controlled, the plot is twisty and devious yet easily tracked, the characters are freshly imagined… the revelations are startling.”—Booklist, starred review

From the Publisher