“[H]arrowing and suspenseful . . . . Blake’s portrayal of the dangers of the immigrants’ crossing is better than any journalistic account I’ve seen. . . . Readers who enjoy action, adventure and lethal weaponry will relish every moment.” —Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post
“Brilliant . . . Blake’s masterful action-driven narrative and his revealing look at the ultra-violent Mexican drug trade rival the best of Don Winslow and Kem Nunn.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Blake’s prose is muscular, his dialogue and details are keenly observed . . . a new spin on the hard-edged outlaw tale . . . [a] fascinating family portrait . . . his characters are lively and so is hit plot”one hell of a ride.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Blake’s customary zest for life and death makes his latest modern historical thriller violent, sexy and exciting.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Blake doesn’t just know the territory, the language and the players—he also knows how to tell a great story.” —Shelf Awareness
“For anyone who has never experienced the exceptional talent of the idiosyncratic Blake, this is a wonderful novel to start with. . . . Passionate, bloody and yet incredibly romantic, it is a tribute to the genius of its author, a modern James M. Cain, who started out as a snake-catcher before becoming a writer.” —Daily Mail (UK)
“I love reading James Carlos Blake. . . . His characters are criminals and types, but they are never just typical . . . [they] are people we get to know well, and we care about what happens to them. . . . This book isn’t only about rules to live by, but ways of ruling, of being in charge of yourself and others. . . . The plot may make readers call this book ‘genre noir’ but the sentences show Blake’s literary chops.” —Erin Stalcup, Waxwing
“Deft plotting and crisp, clean prose. . . . Few writers are better than Blake when the time comes to tally the price of honor among thieves. Without a wasted word, he has crafted a pitch-perfect borderlands thriller.” —Bruce Dinges, Arizona Historical Society
“[Blake is a] master creator of the sympathetic outlaw. . . . A killer read.” —Christine Wald-Hopkins, Tucson Weekly
“Riveting.” —Latinidad
“A gripping, muscular tale.” —Tucson Weekly
“This sand-blasted odyssey is quick, bloody and beautiful with prose as eloquent and unexpected as a cactus flower.” —Madison County Herald
“[A]n action-packed thrill ride. . . . While new readers who discover Blake with The Rules of Wolfe will enjoy the book on its own merit, others who’ve read his previous book [Country of the Bad Wolfes] will appreciate that it is part of a much broader canvas.” —Publishers Weekly
“Wonderful writing.” —Huntington News
The Mysterious Press
