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From BOOKLIST
In a genre populated with strong women, Gaspar de Alba's Ivon Villa stands out as unforgettable. A visiting professor
at an L.A. college, Ivon is smart, beautiful, and gay. She and her partner, Brigit, decide to adopt a baby from Mexico, and
Ivon travels to her native El Paso to see the child. On the plane, she reads an article about the murdered bodies of more
than 100 women found in the desert outside Juarez. The crime wave hits home when the mother of the baby she was to adopt becomes
one of the victims. Then Ivon's little sister, Irene, goes missing after an evening in Juarez. With the help of her cousin
and a nervous priest, Ivon desperately searches for Irene while dealing with their accusatory mother and corrupt border patrol
officers. Gaspar de Alba not only crafts a suspenseful plot but tackles prejudice in many of its ugly forms: against gays,
against Hispanics, against the poor. An in-your-face, no-holds-barred story full of brutality, graphic violence, and ultimately,
redemption. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Review by Rigoberto González (El Paso Times)
"Novel Explores Strings of Juarez Killings" by Elaine Ayala (San Antonio Express News)
"En el desierto corre sangre" by Laura Isensee (Rumbo) (en español)
Book Review by Patricia Trujillo (San Antonio Express-News)
Book Review by David Steinberg (Albuquerque Journal)
A report from the L.A. Times Festival of Books (by Ruben Moreno in Spanish in La Opinion)
Book Review by Alejandro Pérez (San Antonio Current)
Books To Watch Out For (scroll down to page 16)
Brand new review by Darla Baker from Americas.org
Review by Mary Sarber in SouthWest BookViews. Summer 2005.
Online Review. K.I.T. Blogspot. 2/9/2007 (Scroll down to middle of page)
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Advance praise for Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders:
"Gaspar de Alba brings a scholar's mind, a fine writer's sensitivity, and the open heart of her heritage. The result
is a novel that takes your breath away, page after page, and grabs your heart."
--James Crumley, author of The Last Good Kiss
"Gripping, heart-wrenching, set against the tough, lacerating reality of border-town Ciudad Juarez ... Desert Blood
is a mystery unlike any other ... Villa is the perfect match for the border itself. Brava!"
--Lucha Corpi, author of The Gloria Damasco Series
"Desert Blood is an intricately plotted and engaging mystery, but it is more than well-written entertainment. It
is an important book that sheds light on the Juárez murders--the ongoing slaughter of young Mexican women in the border city
of Juárez by persons unknown. Desert Blood weaves together its fictional tale and the known facts of these notorious crimes
in a way that reveals the cultural and political attitudes that have allowed these murders to continue with the indifference--if
not the outright complicity--of Mexican authorities. Bravo to Alicia Gaspar de Alba!
--Michael Nava, author of the Henry Rios mysteries
". . .a page-turner of frightening speed ... Let me say something loud and clear: Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders
deserves the widest readership possible. In fact, copies of the novel should be delivered to the El Paso Police Department,
La Migra, and the FBI with a post-it saying: 'mandatory reading."
--Helena María Viramontes, author of Under the Feet of Jesus
From "La Bloga" 4/29/05 I stopped reading Alicia Gaspar de Alba's Desert Blood for a while, not owing
to low quality, but because the first chapter left me gasping for breath, it was so stunningly powerful. The writer hit me
right between the eyes and I hope you'll pick it up and see why.
The author of Sor Juana’s Second Dream has done it again, given us a piece that deserves to be a blockbuster. But won’t.
Subject matter of crucial interest. Superbly written. So why doesn’t it get ink from NY or LA Times book reviewers?
Or your local paper? I wonder if ethnic labeling of literature--Desert Blood has the subtitle The Juarez Murders–sets
off a counter in the editorial computers "Quota exceeded. No more ethnic literature this quarter. Review something British
instead."
Radio Interviews
KPFA, "The Morning Show" (April 29, 2005) - San Francisco. Note: Search the show's archives for April 29th; my interview begins
at 7:30.
KUHF, "The Front Row" (May 5, 2005) - Houston
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