The Devil Behind the Badge by Rick Jarvis is a very disturbing true crime novel, but part of the crime is how the perpetrator came to be in the story at all. Decorated war veteran, family man, Border Patrol agent for ten years, no outward sign of inner conflict or distress, barring everyday problems. The wife knew differently, however. She began taking their three children for extended holidays to her parents because of Ortiz’s drinking and worsening pill addiction, not to mention his fondness for the girls on Laredo street, who were funding addictions of their own. No one expected the explosion of violence from Juan David Ortiz from September 3 to September 15, 2018 that claimed lives of familiar faces haunting the streets of Laredo looking for momentary relief. Reading the book was like watching a veritable freight train wreck; you see it coming for train and passengers but you can’t look away.