This is the third novel in the Valentine Pescatore series.
Another excellent instalment in the series, Pescatore is a great protagonist, and the plot moves along quickly (though isn't rushed). Well-plotted and constructed, gripping. Recommended for anyone who likes crime/thriller fiction.

If you're looking for an intelligent thriller that matches adrenaline with a journalistic eye on international affairs, look no further than Sebastian Rotella's border-crossing thrillers. In the third of these, following TRIPLE CROSSING and THE CONVERT'S SONG, he pairs up his naive but talented ex-Border Patrol agent Valentine Pescatore, now a private investigator, with weary, principled Mexican journalist, Leo Mendez, once again. This time they're working on an off-the-books investigation for their friend, Isabel Puente. Though she now works for Homeland Security, she can't entrust her case to anyone official because all indications are that a colleague on the inside is protecting someone powerful. And dangerous.

As inured to drug cartel violence as people on both sides of the US-Mexican border have become, a horrific slaughter of women migrants from South America and Africa has made the news. It seems to be the work of a "rip crew" - a new kind of criminal gang that targets traffickers to seize money using any means necessary. Isabel Puente wants to find two women who escaped the carnage because one of them reportedly is being hunted by agents for an American corporation that is pulling all the levers it can in Washington to seal a valuable deal with a corrupt Mexican business partner. There's money laundering involved, but as Pescatore and Mendez begin to put the pieces together, they realize there are uglier crimes as well. Before it's all over, readers will follow the team and their allies across continents, tracking down every lead from the southernmost border of Mexico, to Brazil, to the teeming refugee camps of Lampedusa to the quiet but deadly streets of suburban San Diego.

Through his cast of characters and their global investigation, Rotella manages to raise ethical questions about immigration policies, the power of the wealth to cross borders while bypassing legal and ethical obligations, the role of journalists in holding the powerful accountable, and the tangled loyalties of reporters and DC insiders. in addition to all that, he pulls off thrilling action scenes worthy of adrenaline-fueled Hollywood films. Without sacrificing pace, he uses the authenticity of a reporter's eye to provide multiple perspectives on the refugee crisis, violence against the vulnerable, and the new kinds of chaos mutating from Mexican cartels.

Those who enjoy John le Carré's cynical view of espionage packaged in character-rich moral dilemmas should try Rotella's globe-trotting adventures, a smart and welcome riff on the international thriller.

A fast-paced international thriller with a combination of some great characters from Valentine Pascatore (ex Border Patrol) and Leo Mendez (ex-Mexican policeman) This is a writer who also happens to be in the know on International crimes.

U.S. Border Patrol
Department of Homeland Security
contract investigator
off-the-books assignment
Tecate motel
ten women shot execution-style
special interest aliens
Blake Acquisitions Group
Mexico
Southern California
Guatemala
Italy
Cartels
Mafias
Smugglers
Rip crew

We are dealing with fall guys and top guys, crews executing peoples and upper echelons suited criminals with powerful hands spreading far and wide, mucho dineras for bodies moved like cargo.
I liked this off the books contract investigator Valentine Pescatore and the whole investigation unfolded with gripping and nicely written narrative, insightfully entertaining , an addition to that great first season show The Bridge.

Scintillating, unrelenting, cinematic quality, and thrill that rises up in the right times in the story that has you thoroughly gripped in this world he has crafted upon the page.

Taut masculine potent prose with brevity when needed, great descriptiveness and sentences when needed, bringing alive on the page culture, streets, cafes, peoples, mayhem and shoot-out scenes, and heart of darkness.

James Ellroy and Don Winslow come to mind when striking up similarities with the prose style and content.

An intense tale of murder and corruption with high-ranked U.S. businessmen at its heart

This isn't usually the type of book I read but I enjoyed this detailed story of international intrigue, murder, conspiracy, and corruption that takes place around the globe - Mexico, the U.S., Italy, hints of sub-Saharan Africa, and many countries south of Mexico's southern border.

At the center of the story is Valentine Pescatore, ex- Border Patrol now working as a private/contract investigator working for Homeland Security through Villa Crespo International Investigations and Security.

Also at the forefront in the book is Leo Méndez, ex-Tijuana policeman and now respected journalist.

They are trying to track down who brutally murdered ten female illegal aliens from Africa along with their guards as they were trying to make their way to the U.S. through Mexico.

There was lots of action and a lot of detailed information about illegal aliens in countries OTHER than the U.S. Very interesting.

I highly recommend to readers that enjoy international thrillers.

I received this book from Mulholland Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

No way this author name is real but it is cool. I am a serial hater for the most part but this book has great action scenes; by that I mean the shootouts make me think "Rotella" has some trigger time. Maybe not, anyway, nice action thriller for me and good enough to make me want to read the first two. Enjoy

I wanted to title this review "intelligent" but I thought that might turn of some readers. What's the best word for complex and well-written book? A book by an author who uses his brains to work out the plot, the people, and the action? Well, whatever that is, this book deserves it.

Mr. Rotella writes a rather straightforward and in no way unusual good-guys bad-guys story focused on criminals so low or so stupid they can't even plan their own crimes. They make their living ripping off criminals. The rip crews of the title are operating in Mexico and Italy, but really they are everywhere.

Our heroes are two groups of cops – Mexican police and US Border Patrol – who retired from their official ranks and joined together as a private investigative company that built up an excellent reputation. Later they retired and went their own ways, with a few still remaining in policing and security work. They are called together again to look into a particularly heinous murder in a Mexican motel. A group of women being trafficked into the USA from Mexico was slaughtered gangster style for no apparent reason. Except… there is a possible link to a rich and corrupt business family in the USA.

The leaders of the two groups – Valentine Pescatore, who works freelance for US Homeland Security, and Leo Méndez who is now a provocative journalist – rouse their teams. Early in their investigation they discover that two of the women have survived, and that one of these woman, and her link to the businessmen.

As I said, this is pretty straightforward stuff. What sets this book apart is the writing.

Mr. Rotella is a well respected print journalist who has won or been nominated for several awards for his work. Here he pays close attention to the logic of his story and to maintaining good pace for the action. He also to writes clean, pleasing sentences. His good guy characters are humans, not lumbering military stereotype. I must say that his bad guys, possible because they are not overly smart, are not compelling characters.

If you are in the mood for a thriller, I think you will like this book very much.

I received a review copy of "Rip Crew" by Sebastian Rotella (Mulholland) through NetGalley.com.