Border War

by Lou Dobbs, James O. Born

Border War is a timely thriller about the struggles of US law enforcement officers on the Mexican border by TV broadcaster Lou Dobbs.

The border is a tough place to work, especially for FBI agent Tom Eriksen. With a history of violence, he cannot afford any on-duty screw-ups. So when an investigation ends in a bloody shootout and the shooting is deemed "questionable," the bureau reassigns Eriksen to an office known as "the Island of Misfit Cops": a resting place for those who have screwed up enough to warrant being dumped in El Paso, Texas.

But when his partner is murdered, Eriksen must take charge and solve the case, wading through corruption and betrayal to discover the truth. Only after he teams up with a resourceful and gorgeous NSA agent, Kat Gleason, does his luck change. As they slowly put the puzzle pieces together, the investigation points to a powerful cartel lord and a shadowy US computer company.

As the web of deceit and betrayal tightens, the body count grows. Eriksen must deal with the mayhem caused by the cartels while racing against the clock to stop an assassin whose target is someone very close to him.

Genres: Nonfiction, Thriller, History

336 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 2014

About the author

Lou Dobbs was an American television personality, author, and radio host. Dobbs joined the FOX Business Network in November of 2010. He is the host of Lou Dobbs Tonight, a primetime program featuring a breakdown of the day's top stories and how they impact the economy. He had previously anchored Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN until November 2009. For his reporting, he won the Emmy, Peabody, and Cable ACE awards.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. But it was just too much: too much name dropping, too much of everything but a cohesive plot. It was part expose' on Mexico politics, US law enforcement politics, Mexican drug lords, life at the border, US media and the politics thereof, etc. etc. etc. I kept loosing track of the story line and the characters involved and after a while, just didn't care.

[Thomas McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

Dobbs weaves a "Tale of Two Cities" that are key in the war on drugs and illegal immigration. A lot of politics from Washington , El Paso and Juarez are brought into play very artfully.

Juarez is a pit of a town that supplies labor to major American companies such as GM, Ford, etc.

I have sat in the cab of my semi and watched illegals walk over foot bridges on the Rio Grande into to the US unafraid of being stopped.

Read the book and get an education.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling narrative from point of view of FBI agent Tom Erickson, who is banished to El Paso, Texas, office. There, he teams up with DEA agent and Homeland Security agent in trying to solve several homicides and prevent others. The ease with which he and others cross the border at sanctioned crossings is noteworthy. It’s unfortunate the authors’ political and pro-law enforcement views were integrated in the narrative.

[James Holden · Rating 3 out of 5]

A half decent tale of El Paso and Juarez cartels, drugs, and murder. Lots of killings and meyham. The hero is an uber well educated action figure. His thought patterns seem to mimic those of a twenty year old which gets us back to the problem with this book. The writing techniques are a tad unpolished and this affects the overall believability of the story.

[Rick Brounstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Current in a subtle way. Exciting fiction. Immigration on thbre Southern border brought out a lot of challenges.real world challenges.

You won't be disappointed. Great read. Current. Immigration on the Southern border brought out off of real challenges. Enjoy. Sequel possible?

[Gus Philpott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story about the war along the southern U.S. border. Fast-moving.

[Anton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was strong but they almost lost me on page 20 where I thought John was dead but then alive again by page 30.
The story moved quickly and kept you guessing.

[Lisette Dera · Rating 2 out of 5]

terrible writing
like tortalini

[Bev Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

About halfway through it it became a page-turner.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, a little slow in the beginning...

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent thriller that caught me from page 1. Lots of intrigue and mystery to keep the pages turning. The life of a border agent, mixed with the CIA, and Homeland Security verses a drug cartel that has infiltrated local politicians, businesses, and police. You won't be disappointed with this book!

[Patrick O'Hannigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel takes a thinly-fictionalized look at the cost of drug running on both sides of the border between the United States and Mexico. As a police procedural, it's entertaining, but as a thriller, it falls flat and sounds dated. Blackberry (the mobile phone company) gets a shout out, and the federal agents use flip phones. More to my point, the novel's protagonist is a young FBI agent still enamored with the allegedly sterling reputation of the Bureau as a premiere law enforcement agency, so you know the book was published before "Crossfire Hurricane" entered the American lexicon as a dirty tricks operation run by and through the FBI at the behest of powerful Democrats (2016 to 2019).

Another thing that strained credulity for me is that nearly all of the women in the book are beautiful. This would not have been a problem, but for the fact that we're talking about a small federal task force in El Paso, Texas. Locale and demographic not withstanding, the co-authors never miss an opportunity to gush over how pretty a National Security Agency analyst is. They're also quite enamored with a DEA babe, a U.S. Senator, and the young widow of a hapless "coyote" shot by his own organization.

While I appreciate pulchritude in the female form as much as any red-blooded man does, I'd like to think I'd write about it with gentlemanly restraint rather than trotting out adjectives like "beautiful" and "curvy" every time a woman enters the room.

[Tom Tischler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The border is a hard place to work especially for an FBI
agent. Tom Eriksen has a history of violence so the bureau
reassigns him to the Island of the Misfit Cops or those who
have screwed up enough to be dumped in El Paso TX. When his
partner is murdered Eriksen must solve the case and he must
wade through all sorts of corruption and betrayal to find the
truth. After he teams up with a gorgeous NSA agent Kat Gleason
his luck slowly changes as they begin to fit the pieces of the
puzzle together. The pieces are leaning toward a powerful cartel
lord and a shadowy U.S. computer company. As the web tightens
the body count rises and Eriksen must deal with the mayhem
caused by the cartel while racing against the clock to stop
an assassin whose target is someone very close to him. Pretty
good story with a good bit of action.

[Don Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw one of the authors was Lou Dobbs, a Fox network commentator/host, I wondered what was the book like? Not to take away from the co-author Born but TV means exposure and Fox even more so. Pick sides...negative or positive as there is little middle ground. Surprisingly it turned out to be a page turner after starting out a little to predictable. Ended up finishing it at 2 AM last night. Always a good sign. I did get a little tired of the news commentator character always being preachy about his role in good journalism and commitment to America. Enough is enough Mr. Dobbs. The story built itself into a good thriller.

[Valerie Strand]

I won a copy of this book as a first reads giveaway and am glad I did. Having lived in El Paso I was familiar with the areas in the book and the border problems that exist. This book does a good job of portraying what really is happening along our border with Mexico. There is certainly many characters in the book, but I did not have trouble keeping track. If you have any interest in how not secure our border really is, I suggest you read this.

[Ray Gehrig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fiction, but an accurate portrayal of what's going on at our southern border, in the American business community, and the real life problems faced by U.S. law enforcement. A good read. I highly recommend it.

[Neil Plakcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent writing and characterization; great police procedures.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Jumps around from character and locations.

[Ben Rand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good read.

[Larry Gundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timely

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

should have been interesting, but reads like a bad lifetime movie-of-the-week treatment: superficial characterizations and immature writing style.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I thought it would be when I picked it up. An OK read, but nothing special.

[Rick]

ok

[Laraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like this book very much. I thought it was an okay read at best. Would rate it a 2 1/2-3 star read. Better off reading "The Cartel" by Don Winslow.

[Thomas Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looked to get more out of this book. And it is written, I found it difficult to read.

[Rev. Rocky]

Very good book I like it and like Lou Dobbs on Fox News

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very complex.