Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Minnesota

A Ruthless Killer, a Terrorized Community, and the Search for Justice in California's Central Valley

"Meticulously researched and tightly woven, The Devil's Harvest is an important story because it tells us that if [this] can happen in one place, then it can happen in any place. And that's damn scary."--Michael Connelly, New York Times bestselling author of The Closers, The Lincoln Lawyer, and The Night Fire A page-turning, suspenseful story of a drug cartel hit man who got away with murder after murder in California's Central Valley for three decades, The Devil's Harvest reveals how the criminal justice system fails our most vulnerable immigrant communities. On the surface, fifty-eight-year-old Jose Martinez didn't seem evil or even that remarkable- just a regular neighbor, good with cars and devoted to his family. But in between taking his children to Disneyland and visiting his mom, Martinez was also one of the most skilled professional killers police had ever seen. He tracked one victim to one of the wealthiest corners of America, a horse ranch in Santa Barbara, and shot him dead in the morning sunlight, setting off a decades-long manhunt. He shot another man, a farmworker, right in front of his young wife as they drove to work in the fields. The widow would wait decades for justice. Those were murders for hire. Others he killed for vengeance. How did Martinez manage to evade law enforcement for so long with little more than a slap on the wrist? Because he understood a dark truth about the criminal justice system: if you kill the "right people"-people who are poor, who aren't white, and who don't have anyone to speak up for them-you can get away with it. Melding the pacing and suspense of a true crime thriller with the rigor of top-notch investigative journalism, The Devil's Harvest follows award-winning reporter Jessica Garrison's relentless search for the truth as she traces the life of this assassin, the cops who were always a few steps behind him, and the families of his many victims. Drawing upon decades of case files, interrogation transcripts, on-the-ground reporting, and Martinez's chilling handwritten journals, The Devil's Harvest uses a gripping and often shocking narrative to dig into one of the most important moral questions haunting our politically divided nation today: Why do some deaths-and some lives-matter more than others?

The Devil's Harvest

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Jessica Garrison

In the tradition of authors Jill Leovy and Beth Macy, award-winning Buzzfeed investigative journalist Jessica Garrison unravels the real-life story of Jose Martinez, a serial killer and drug cartel debt collector responsible for the murders of Latinos in the impoverished towns of California's Central Valley, and sheds light on the lack of protection for the poor Nestled between the foggy allure of San Francisco and the glitzy celebrity of Los Angeles lies California's Central Valley -a vast plain of endless dusty fields and home of much of the nation's fruits and vegetables. In this forgotten corner of America, lives Jose Martinez, a mechanic, devoted father, and one of the most prolific serial killers in American history, having confessed to 39 murders-more than Ted Bundy, John Wayne, or H.H. Homes. He worked as a drug cartel hitman and terrorized poor, rural communities, largely populated by immigrants, for over 35 years until he voluntarily turned himself in. Nobody had ever managed to stop him. Martinez understood a dark truth about the criminal justice system: if you kill the right people-people who are poor, who aren't white, and who don't have anyone to speak up for them-you can get away with it. Melding the pacing and suspense of a true crime thriller with the rigor of top-notch investigative journalism, award-winning reporter Jessica Garrison has spent more than three years tracing the life of this merciless hitman, the cops who chased him, and the families of his many victims. Drawing upon decades of case files, interrogation transcripts, months of on the ground reporting, and Martinez's own handwritten journals, THE DEVIL'S HARVEST uses a gripping and often shocking narrative to dig into one of the most important moral questions haunting our politically divided nation today: why do some deaths-and some lives-matter more than others?

Category - Non Fiction / True Crime

Format - Paperback

Condition - New

Listed - A year ago

Views - 22

Wishes - 1

Ships From - Minnesota

Est. Publication Date - Aug 2021

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