THE BEAST

One day a few years ago, 300 migrants were kidnapped betweenthe remote desert towns of Altar, Mexico, and Sasabe, Arizona. A local priest got120 released, many with broken anklesand other marks of abuse, but the restvanished. Oscar Martinez, a youngwriter from El Salvador, was in Altarsoon after the abduction, and his accountof the migrant disappearances is onlyone of the harrowing stories he garneredfrom two years spent traveling up anddown the migrant trail from CentralAmerica and across the US border. Morethan a quarter of a million CentralAmericans make this increasinglydangerous journey each year, and eachyear as many as 20,000 of them arekidnapped. Martinez writes in powerful, unforgettable prose about clinging tothe tops of freight trains; finding respite, work and hardship in shelters andbrothels; and riding shotgun with theborder patrol. Illustrated with stunningfull-color photographs, "The Beast "is thefirst book to shed light on the harsh newreality of the migrant trail in the age ofthe "narcotraficantes."