Death in the Desert
by Francine P. Biere
Published by Treble Heart Books
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Reviewed by Carrie Padgett
Death in the Desert by Francine P. Biere is an ambitious attempt to illuminate the issue of illegal immigration over the Mexico/Arizona border.
Reporter Meagan Wagner lived in Washington D.C. on September 11, 2001 and was forever changed. She believes she failed when she allowed shock and grief to keep her from reporting on the events and has retreated to Arizona where she lives in solitude near her loving uncle.
9/11 also left her paranoid about illegal aliens and the effect immigrants have on our country. Cochise County is simmering with fear and anger as waves of Mexican and other migrants enter this country looking for an escape from the crippling poverty of home. Locals have banded together to find and torment the traveling migrants.
Fear and anger erupt when some illegal aliens shoot and kill two local people, and another pair hijack a school bus, crashing it and killing four students. Meagan writes a scathing article that incites retaliation.
Meagan's friend takes her across the border for a firsthand look at the crushing poverty the immigrants are fleeing. Meagan's perspective changes from fear and anger to sympathy and tolerance.
Biere builds suspense nicely, but too often stops the action for description, such as when Meagan is searching for her Uncle Billy who has disappeared. The tension falls apart when Meagan stops the search to reminisce about Billy's collection of Elvis memorabilia.
Yes, it adds to our image of Billy, but is distracting when we're worried about him. The first hundred pages are so full of back-story, description, and character introductions that I grew impatient for something to happen.
Biere's prose is competent but could have used a scrub brush to get out some of the repetition that clog up the narrative and slow it down. Too many incidental characters, and many of the vigilantes are from the same mold. Combining the group into two or three distinctive personalities would have helped.
Armchair Interviews says: Biere's passion for her subject comes through, but her execution doesn't quite meet the level required by this complex issue.