Mexico Books

Do you ever wonder why some authors make it to the big time, while other, more talented authors don't?

Well, I can name you a dozen big-time mystery writers who made it to the top that don't really belong there. Meanwhile, Steven Havill's Bill Gastner series cruises right along in relative obscurity.

Do yourself a favor - check out this interesting series. Think of burrito-loving, coffee-guzzling 70-year old insomniac Sherrif Bill Gastner as the Anglo version of Tony Hillerman's Lt. Joe Leaphorn and you've got a good idea of how good this series is.

Rather than go into plot details, let me just say that this book is probably not the book to start the series with. However, it is an entertaining read. Character development is at the heart of this series.

I give this one a grade of A

I have read all the Bill Gastner books and this one is another in a fine, underrated series. The plot is, as usual, well crafted and interesting and the array of characters, both familiar and unfamiliar (including the culinarily-gifted grandson)engaging. This is the book that bridges the gap between Gastner as under-sheriff and his new life and it does not disappoint. The New Mexico setting is also as fascinating as usual. I do not understand the editorial criticism of the plot as slow-moving--I thought it one of Havill's best, most absorbing and exciting. I recommend Bag Limit as a worthy successor to those that have preceded it.

This is eighth and final installment of a very enjoyable series involving Sheriff Bill Gastner and the small county of Posadas, New Mexico. The Sheriff and all the others are back with the Sheriff happily counting down the hours until he gratefully leaves office. He is looking forward to the peace and solitude of his adobe home with absolutely nothing planned to do upon his retirement.

Still an insomniac as much as ever, he relishes taking his police vehicle and driving up in what passes for mountains in his area and contemplating the scene below in the dark hours of the night. From his perch, he sees the beginnings of what appears to be a routine police chase of a drunk driver. However, the driver flees and is soon headed up toward Sheriff Gastner as the vehicle follows the switchback mountain road steadily higher.

Sheriff Gastner happens to be sitting on a small gravel turnoff that few know about and is not visible to traffic on the road. Matt Torrez is the drunk driver of the vehicle containing himself as well as two other teenagers and he knows the little road as well. Thinking that he is going to escape from the fleeing officer, who turns out to be his cousin as well as the most likely new sheriff after the election, Robert Torrez, Matt turns down the little used road.

Before he can stop, he rams Sheriff Gastner's car driving it precariously close to the edge. Matt escalates things further by refusing to surrender and instead, fleeing into the scrub brush where he soon vanishes. His companions are not so fortunate.

Soon, the chase is on to figure out where Matt is and why he is running from a simple traffic stop. Along the way, Sheriff Gastner will also find himself tangled up in a the middle of a cattle rustling case as well as election year politics, family problems, and what to do after he leaves office. To detail more would simply ruin the work as many things in this novel are interconnected as well as connected to previous novels.

This final installment is another very good read and numerous loose ends are tied up. While Mr. Havill does not plow any new ground with these characters, it is a real pleasure to welcome back old friends. After eight books, this reader feels like he has known these character all his life and I will sorely miss this series and its easy familiarity with readers. While this was the final Gastner book, the new series, which started with "Scavengers" has turned out to be a very good read as well.

Baja fever is a wonderful book. I loved reading about the author's experiences and I felt that I was right there beside him when he had his adventures. Now I want to drive around the penninsula, go camping and look for hidden beaches, and mission churches. When I go, I will be taking this book along. For anyone who is interested in Baja, this book is required reading. But a warning should be issued, Baja fever is contagious!

A truly terrific book on Baja. Greg Niemann captures the incredible drawing power of Baja, through his personal experiences of years of travel throughout the peninsula. I really enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the places Greg has visited. I love this book!

I couldn't put this book down! Greg Niemann's detailed explanations of the things he's seen in his many years of Baja travel make this a gem of a book to own! Having caught "Baja Fever" a few years back, all this book did was raise my temperature to new heights! Baja Fever is one illness I really want to keep!

This book is an example of the new attention ethnographers are paying to writing. Not only is it wonderfully written but it is an honest account of Zuni lives today. Tedlock went to the pueblo with her husband Dennis Tedlock (author of the "Popol Vuh" and the "Rabinal Achi") as a painter and after a number of visits and encouragement from Zuni women she decided to become an ethnographer. During her graduate education she also did work in Guatemala, see her classic book "Time and the Highland Maya." There is now a new book about to appear "The Woman in the Shaman's Body: Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine." I've seen the advanced copy and it is fabulous! All these books are must reads for young documentary writers and spiritually alive women and men today!

This is a beautifully written, honest, book about a young woman ethnographer coming of age. She first went to Zuni Pueblo as a young woman painter with her anthropologist husband and fell in love with the people and place. As a result she went on to get graduate degrees in Ethnomusicology and Anthropology herself and began working with the Maya in Guatemala. Since then she has written a book on women shamans worldwide: The Woman in the Shaman's Body. These books are worth the time to read.

I really enjoyed reading Tedlock's work. The writing reverses the notion of "participant observation" to the "observation of participation." Instead of a removed, monological account, we are offered a polyphony of voices, including the authors. In fact, the ethnography reads much like a novel; however, these are real people with real stories to tell. The text offers a rich and evocative account of the Zuni people and their experiences in the borderzone between the past and present. Tedlock's work and writing strategies were central to the writing of my own ethnographic account of a Southeastern Native American Tribe in search of a visible past--the Pee Dee of South Carolina (Title: Native Americans in the Carolina Borderlands: A Critical Ethnography, Carolinas Press, 2000). Tedlock's ethnography is a must read for those on the verge of engaging ethnography, no matter the methodological bent, and students and academics interested in Native American Studies, Cultural Studies, Cultural Anthropology, and alternative ethnography.

Of 4 books I took to Loreto, this was by far the best and most informative. Lots of detailed info on best places to eat, stay and beaches. Highly recommended!

This is the first credible, comprehensive guidebook for Loreto that I have seen in the two years I have been living in Loreto. It is engaging, amusing, accurate and useful! While I disagree with some of the restaurant assessments (a necessarily subjective exercise!), it's pretty much on the mark. I still think McLulu's fish tacos are to die for, and they don't even mention Taqueria Travolta (aguably the second best carne asada tacos after el Rey de Taco, which really is the best, and really is literally a hole in the wall!). It's a wonderful companion and good value. I also particularly like the feature that allows readers to upload and/or check out new or more current information on a website.

Destination guides are typically like reference books -- this is more like a novel in terms of readability and interest. As a regular visitor to Loreto, I was quite impressed that the authors not only delivered the usual roadmap to a vacation, but also provided valuable insights that most visitors and even some residents would miss.

The body of this guidebook is rich with content. While the highlighted sidebars lend color and context.

This book brings Loreto to life in a way that enhances the experience of discovering this emerging and largely undiscovered beach resort, fishing village, and cultural gem. In a no-holds-barred (and at times amusing) manner, the reader learns about restaurants, hiking, fishing, whale watching, hotels, and more.

I highly recommend this book for both vistors and new residents of the region.

The Mexican government's investigation into the bizarre death of Digna Ochoa, a dedicated human-rights lawyer, is set up for scrutiny in this chilling exposé. The author, Linda Diebel, founded and headed up the Toronto Star's Latin-America bureau for seven years before transferring to Washington, and was an acquaintance of Digna's.

"Betrayed" presents the known facts of the case, along with statements from Digna's colleagues, friends and family, and from local police and politicians. The portrait of her that emerges is one that forces the reader to think twice about blindly accepting "official" verdicts in such controversial cases. As we learn more and more about Digna's life and passions and her eagerness to see justice done for Mexico's poorest and least privileged, the official position - that her death was a "probable suicide" - is shown to be absurd.

Digna wasn't only a warrior for justice, hailed by Amnesty International and Bill Clinton and Kerry Kennedy: she was a former Dominican nun, a young woman with a new boyfriend, a loving and stubborn and headstrong daughter and sister. With the extremely-readable and well-crafted "Betrayed", Linda Diebel has given readers a portrait of a fascinating woman whose spirit burned brightly and much too briefly.

Do you want to read a good thriller? Despite its title, "Betrayed: The Assassination of Digna Ochoa" is much more than an account of a celebrated human rights attorney who was murdered in Mexico in 2001. (The government subsequently tried to pass off her death as a suicide.) This beautifully written and well-documented narrative keeps the reader in suspense: Why try to cover up an obvious murder? How were the investigators able to accomplish it? This is a love story, a history of human rights abuses in Mexico and a political analysis. If you want to read a riveting account based on a true tragedy, be sure to read this one.

"In Mexico, to defend human rights is to risk your life." -Digna Ochoa. And that's exactly what she did. Ironcially, she risked her life by giving a voice to her own people in her own country, unprotected by her own government, and consequently betrayed. Yet many a government official vowed that this case would not go unsolved (staple phrase in Mexico when a crime is committed). Almost 2 years later, the best they could come up with was the most ridiculous, asinine and insulting verdict I've ever read. This verdict was just as riddled with holes as the other victims mentioned in this book.

I commend Linda Diebel on her arduous, and at times dangerous, investigative work to produce this book. It was through it that holes such as careless police work of not properly securing the crime scene, removal of the body only after all medical readings are taken, no possible gun powder residue, and something as simple as the chain of custody of the evidence were either discovered or brought out from under the rug.

The case of Digna Ochoa is marred and disgraced with incompetence, contradictions, lies, cover up, and ultimately betrayal; things that go against Digna herself and what she stood for. Mexican officials are known to make dissenters disappear (via the army, police, security forces, and others). That explains why testimonies in Digna's case (one of many) were changed and documents mysteriously went missing. If a person who stands in their (government) way can easily be dealt with, then how hard can it be to get rid of a piece of paper?

I strongly recommend this book. While the white sandy beaches of Mexico are quite real, so is the corruption, injustices, and atrocities of torturing and killing of innocent people.

This is my all time favorite book. It is so real. The whole letter writing thing. It brings out the personality changes in Abigail when she relocates with her family out west during the civil war. Maggie her sister that she dearly loves changes too but in a negative way. In a way of being narrowminded and not understanding the selfless way that Abigail has become bieng on her own and working the harsh dry and hot land in New Mexico. The Mesa (mountains) are her love and she writes about them quite often to Maggie back home in the East. Not only does Abigail learn to fall in love with this harsh southern land but she allowed me to fall in love with it too and to be for her through the entire story. To want to jump into the pages and help her. Help her through the hard droughts and to feed her children that she bore alone in her hut on the land.
A great book for everyone.
A must read.

This is my all time favorite book. It is so real. The whole letter writing thing. It brings out the personality changes in Abigail when she relocates with her family out west during the civil war. Maggie her sister that she dearly loves changes too but in a negative way. In a way of being narrowminded and not understanding the selfless way that Abigail has become bieng on her own and working the harsh dry and hot land in New Mexico. The Mesa (mountains) are her love and she writes about them quite often to Maggie back home in the East. Not only does Abigail learn to fall in love with this harsh southern land but she allowed me to fall in love with it too and to be for her through the entire story. To want to jump into the pages and help her. Help her through the hard droughts and to feed her children that she bore alone in her hut on the land.
A great book for everyone.
A must read.

I read this novel in a day. It was a really captivating novel, and I think the idea of telling the story in letters worked well. Abigail is a woman whose home has been destroyed by the Civil War. She, her husband, and their young children leave the South to start a new life out West. Abigail writes back to her sister Maggie in Virginia of how she comes to love the harsh but beautiful New Mexican landscape. I am 13 and even though this was a novel meant for adults, I think teens who like historical fiction could enjoy it.

This is an uplifting tale of survival - physical and spiritual. With the harsh beauty of the Pecos Wilderness as its backdrop, this story draws you through an incredible struggle with nature and morality. It all begins with the crash of a small plane in the heart of a vast forest, but you must decide where it will end. Is it enough to be content in life, or should you risk the pain and reach for something more? I really enjoyed the splendor and power of nature in this book. I didn't realize that there are still places in America so wild and remote. I think I learned a bit about survival - more than I have from Survivor. This story, however, goes far beyond the battle to simply stay alive. That is what makes it so special. It reminds you how to live!

Beyond Contentment is a book that is easy reading but can change a person's life. The book has appeal of being a contemporary novel of an adventure in the Pecos Wilderness. While I did not understand the meaning of the title when I made the selection, I looked forward to an episode of modern man against the wilderness. The story was suspenseful. However, I did not anticipate that the book would challenge the contentment that I had enjoyed in early retirement for two years.

As the main character, Blaine Wells, was developed in the story, I saw myself in him and began to question my own contented lifestyle. Two weeks after completing the book, I found myself vigorously engaged in volunteer work for a local charitable organization and enjoying a tremendous self-satisfaction that is beyond contentment. Could Beyond Contentment be a satirical writing aimed at exposing my own contentment as folly?

The book could just as easily be read as a primer for novices who want some training before becoming wilderness explorers. As Blaine Wells overcomes many challenges of the wilderness, it is evident that the writer is drawing from his own broad experiences of survival in the Pecos Wilderness. The descriptions of survival techniques are vivid enough that a Boy Scout can likely earn merit badges from copying actions of Blaine Wells.

The contemporary nature of the story is found in the character of Bradley Hawthorne, the antithesis of Blaine Wells. Hawthorne personifies mega-businesses that have emerged in recent years. The writer's extensive business background shows as he casts executives in roles that reflect both the management styles of a kinder, gentler era and those of a bolder, new time.

Two love stories woven into the book make a sequel to Beyond Contentment almost a certainty. What happens to a man's love for the wilderness? Can he leave it behind for a more civilized lifestyle? And what happens in a subtly developed relationship that emerges between Blaine Wells and Shana Matthews? If a reader does not find life beyond contentment in this book, certainly human passion survives for further development in the sequel.

Beyond Contentment is a book that appeals to a diverse group of readers: those desiring to reach out to a more satisfied lifestyle, those who have a love for the wilderness, those seeking to gain skills for survival, those facing change in their business cultures, and those readers who want nothing more than to have their minds pleasurably stimulated with an exciting novel.

March 25, 2001

This intriguing tale begins in the middle of a wilderness area in Northern New Mexico. An airplane crash interrupts the self-imposed exile of a man retreating from society and human contact. The brutal murder of his wife and daughter in their urban home left psychologist Blaine Wells with a deep hatred of the convicted, and imprisoned, youth who committed the crime. His solution was to isolate himself from human contact where he could no longer be a victim. He was encouraged to pursue this course by his need for independence, love of the outdoors, and the splendor of the scenery in his mountain home.

Forced by his conscience to investigate the crash, Blaine becomes a hero to the survivors. He rescues them not only from the perils of the wilds but also from a pair of deadly criminals who happen to come across the downed aircraft. Although two of the survivors reject Blaine's role as their only hope for survival, deep and lasting bonds are formed with the others. These relationships result in Blaine reconsidering his withdrawal from the human race. The results are heart-warming .

Beyond Contentment is a thoroughly engrossing story. The author is obviously intimately acquainted with the wilderness and all its wonders. His descriptions of the scenery and wildlife are so vivid that readers experience the awesome sights of the backwoods country.

Cave has done her homework following the New Mexicans through the Bataan Death March and labor camps.

Dorothy Cave has really done an excellent job of research and storytelling with this book. She was able to accuratly document the fate of many of the soildiers that were mobilized in 1940 in New Mexico.

I hope that Dorothy Cave will write a second book on the 200th and include more of the research material that would mean so much to the relatives and decendents of the warriers of the 200th Regiment.

Since I was born in Silver City NM and am now a member of the New Mexico National Guard, I request that all new Officers assigned to my Battalion to read Beyond Courage so that they may better understand the importance that history may place on their contirbution to New Mexico and the United States.

When I first moved to New Mexico in 1963, I became aware that many of the troops on the Bataan Death March came from New Mexico. They used to have an annual reunion here in Las Cruces, and I met a few of those men.

This book is by a professor of history at Eastern New Mexico University, who is I think a relative of one of the men on the march. The book entails the experiences of the 200th and 515th Coast Artiliary units, which were based in New Mexico.

I had always imagined that the worst part of their ordeal was the 60-mile forced march (and at war's end in 1945, I traversed that 60 miles in a jeep, a truly terrible ride in the Philippine heat and humidity). But far worse were the trips those heros made in the holds of enemy cargo vessels. They were put in the holds, so crowded that everyone had to stand, where the human urine and excrement simply dropped to the deck for everyone to stand in, and where people died standing up. The cruelty was worse than anyone could possibly imagine.

These units were the first to fire on the Japs and the last to lay down their arms when surrender came. And you learn of the espionage these guys performed when doing their slave labor in the factories and the mines of Japan and Manchuria. Such labor, and the treatment forced on the prisoners, were in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, of which Japan was a signatory.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The author is a superb writer.

One of the best descriptions of a battle and field of battle I have read.

This is an excellent account of the early campaign in the Rio Grande Valley and the Confederacy's attempt to secure part of the Western Territories. Valverde was the first and largest battle of the campaign and a surprising southern victory allowed Sibley's Army of New Mexico to occupy most of the New Mexico Territory. Taylor makes good use of maps to discribe the action as units arrive on the field piecemeal and are thrown into the fight. Taylor includes diagrams of unit organizations and has a large appendix analyzing unit strenghts and losses and also discusses whether this Southern victory was really a strategic defeat. There are extensive notes at the end where Taylor discusses discrepencies in original accounts. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil War in the Western Territories.

Most people, even serious Civil War historians often overlook the fact that the Confederate Armies captured Santa Fe! Or that entire battles were fought that far west! "Bloddy Valverde" is an amazingly detailed account of my favorite battle. This, the biggest battle of the campaign is won of the most interesting of the war! from Graysons comical attempt to used mules as a primitive guided smart bomb to the amount of federal regulars involved, the types of ordnance, a lance charge defeated by a Napoleonic square till the turning point...a dismounted shotgun charge against the federal batteries! This is the single most detailed book of thie battle, breaking down the events to almost every 30 minutes. The research and depth is amazing...many myths and misconceptions of this battle are cleared up. Just when you think you know everything about the American Civil War this comes along!

This book has become an instant favorite with me. I really love how Mr. Henty shows the true reasons behind Cortez's conquest, and not the pack of lies that we usually hear in history. The thing that got my attention was the Henty made it clear that both sides had their good and bad intentions. The Mexicans wanted peace to reign but yet they exercised brutal human sacrifices to their gods. The Spanish wanted to spread the Gospel to the world but they were noted for their brutality in war. There are no reasons to search for good or bad guys, as the hero in this story is torn between the two sides. If you really want to read how history should be written, read this book.

BY RIGHT OF CONQUEST is a great book. It tells the story of a boy who is shipwrecked on a island where the people think he is a god. When Cortez comes to fight the people of the islands the boy is caught in the fray. This story is a great book full of excitment like in the middle of battles or running away in a boat. Even a point where the boy must escape from being sacrificed. This is a wonderful book which I encourage many to read.

This is a great study guide for the hardcover book. It contains numerous maps, questions, and vocabulary lists, BUT do not order this if you think you've found a much cheaper version of the hardcover-that is not the case.