Review
Multiple plot lines twist and intertwine throughout
Crossers. The central
protagonist, Gil Castle, is healing from his wife's death by creating a new life
for himself on the family homestead. Author Philip Caputo contrasts the
thoughtful Gil with his cousin Blaine Erskine, a lifelong rancher who seems to
channel the Old West of a bygone era.
Their ranch on the Mexican border is a thoroughfare for drug runners and illegal aliens, and in protecting his property Erskine runs afoul of one of the major drug lords (who is simultaneously involved in a bloody turf war with another kingpin). Throw in historical transcripts relating the life and times of
Erskine's grandfather, Ben, as well as discussions of 9/11, terrorism, and the
U.S. invasion of Iraq, and you've got one excessively complicated book. In the
hands of a lesser novelist, the complexity could be confusing,...
Beyond the Book
Illegal Drug Use in the USA
The primary protagonist in
Crossers is the head of a powerful Mexican
drug cartel specializing in the sale and distribution of both marijuana and
cocaine.
Illicit narcotics have been smuggled across the Mexican border into the United
States for decades, and the illegal drug market in the United States is one of
the most profitable in the world. According to
The US Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) approximately 70% of all foreign narcotics enter the
US via Mexico, most of it concealed in some of the 116 million vehicles that
cross the border annually. Smaller amounts are carried over in backpacks,
frequently by people paying back others for helping them enter the United States
illegally. The United States...
