Midst of My Confusion tells the story of a violent defiant and survivalistic Chicano whose reality in the barrio is intensely brutal. The main character is Joaquin, a young vato who has lived his entire life in the barrio of his small town. But the peace of a small town is short-lived. Fights occuring everywhere, so Joaquin and friends he's grown up witha ll bond together for protection, a gang. His destiny changes during a business trip to Mexico City. Joaquin encounters the effects of ex...

God’s Fingerprints is a story of fulfilled promises and the unlimited reach of God in our lives. Dive deep into the incredible testimony of Alfonso Gomez, a pastor’s son. When he was five years old his father had a vision of Alfonso all grown up and preaching in Colombia South America. As Alfonso grew up in the central valley of California this vision seemed further away from ever becoming a reality. With a dark cloud coming over his generation with gangs, drugs, and alcohol, he doubted he...

God’s Fingerprints is a story of fulfilled promises and the unlimited reach of God in our lives. Dive deep into the incredible testimony of Alfonso Gomez, a pastor’s son. When he was five years old his father had a vision of Alfonso all grown up and preaching in Colombia South America. As Alfonso grew up in the central valley of California this vision seemed further away from ever becoming a reality. With a dark cloud coming over his generation with gangs, drugs, and alcohol, he doubted he...

Finally, an exhaustive yet straightforward study into the foundational Christian truth of identity. Many new believers come to the feet of Christ broken and shattered. They join a church or a group and rejoice in their new relationship with Jesus. Over time as they learn about God, the distance becomes further and further away from the Lord. This causes confusion and eventually alienation. This is due to the fact that denominations and churches across the world do a fantastic job of teachi...

Midst of My Confusion tells the story of a violent, defiant, and survivalistic Chicano. The story shows how easily someone can fall into the life of drug cartels and the underworld it brings-his destiny changes during a business trip to Mexico City. Joaquin encounters the effects of exploitation and marginalization of a people and the forces that struggle to resist. He finds Zapatismo and quickly understands the struggle of Mexicans who fight for human rights and services. He wonders why h...

This volume examines the relationship between states and organized crime. It seeks to add to the theoretical literature for analyzing the criminalization of the state. The volume also explores the nature of organized crime in countries throughout the Americas from Central America to the Southern Cone.

New York Times bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey takes readers on the ride of a lifetime in this fierce novel of seduction, intrigue, and betrayal featuring hit man Gideon.Gideon trusts no one. But when his former lover resurfaces in need of his skills, Gideon accepts. The assignment leads to Argentina and a team of international mercenaries who will maim, kill, and torture to achieve victory. One of them has a connection to Gideon that neither assassi...

From the beloved and award-winning author Junot Díaz, a spellbinding saga of a family’s journey through the New World.A coming-of-age story of unparalleled power, Drown introduced the world to Junot Díaz's exhilarating talents. It also introduced an unforgettable narrator— Yunior, the haunted, brilliant young man who tracks his family’s precarious journey from the barrios of Santo Domingo to the tenements of industrial New Jersey, and their epic passage fr...

The award-winning memoir of life in an LA street gang from the acclaimed Chicano author and former Los Angeles Poet Laureate: "Fierce, and fearless" ( The New York Times).Luis J. Rodríguez joined his first gang at age eleven. As a teenager, he witnessed the rise of some of the most notorious cliques in Southern California. He grew up knowing only a life of violence—one that revolved around drugs, gang wars, and police brutality. But unlike most of those ar...

In this literary debut, a young girl tells of her traumatic life via a Mexican card game in a "heart-wrenching tale of violence, love and a broken family" ( Los Angeles Times).With her older sister Estrella in the ICU and her father in jail, eleven-year-old Luz Castillo has been taken into the custody of the state. Alone in her room, she retreats behind a wall of silence, writing in her journal and shuffling through her beloved deck of lotería cards, a Lati...

Set amidst the political turbulence and social unrest of contemporary Mexico City, An Easy Thing introduces English-speaking readers to Taibo's human and world-weary protagonist, independent detective Hector Belascoaran Shayne. In this debut outing, our hero, who, incidentally, possesses an insatiable appetite for Coca Cola and cigarettes, tackles three cases simultaneously: a killing in a corrupt factory; the deadly threats against a former porn starlet's teenage daughter; and, strangely,...

This "extraordinary" novel of one man's border crossing reveals "a human history of sorrow and suffering, all of it beginning with the thirst to be free" (NPR).Héctor is trapped. The water truck, sealed to hide its human cargo, has broken down. The coyotes have taken all the passengers' money for a mechanic and have not returned.Héctor finds a name in his friend César's phone: AnniMac. A name with an American number. He must reach her, both for rescue and t...