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Borderland
Kyle Dawson risks life and love as he hunts for the men who murdered his father.
War correspondent Dawson leaves his job with a prominent Washington, DC newspaper and returns home to El Paso, Texas, for the funeral.
War correspondent Dawson leaves his job with a prominent Washington, DC newspaper and returns home to El Paso, Texas, for the funeral.
When his father is eulogized by Senator Micah Madsen, a candidate for U.S. president, Dawson senses that his father's death is more than a local murder story. But first he must confront the ghosts of his past:
His cousin and confidant, DEA special agent Raoul Garcia.
His ex- high school sweetheart, Anita Alvarez.
His mystical Mexican-Indian mother.
His estranged children and ex-wife.
Dawson's instincts prove true when he and Anita, out to dinner after two decades apart, witness the brutal slaying of cartel boss Don Diego Borrego.
The story pits Dawson against Anita, now a star local TV reporter. She stays one step ahead using her ties to the Borrego family. She hopes the story will take her to the big time.
Dawson must make dangerous choices when he uncovers his father's and Senator Madsen's ties to the cartel drug trade. It's a story that could cost him everything that he holds dear.
- GenresThriller
316 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2015
80 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Peter Eichstaedt
20 books30 followersPeter Eichstaedt is an award-winning author who has worked in locations worldwide, including the Balkans, eastern Europe, Afghanistan, and Eastern and Central Africa. He is the author of ten books of fiction and nonfiction, including his most recent, a mystery thriller titled Enemy of the People. In it, a journalist exposes a conspiracy behind the kidnapping of the US president, who agrees to meet with his political adversaries in a swank resort in northern New Mexico.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 1, 2017
GNAB I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Peter Eichstaedt, and Wildblue Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all, for sharing your hard work with me.
I requested this novel because it features my home ground - southwestern Texas and New Mexico. I found myself a new author to follow. Peter Eichstaedt writes a fast paced, intense story with believable, honest people involved in a tale that keeps you hopping. And his coverage of my country is real and true as well. This is a novel I am comfortable recommending to friends and family. I look forward to more by Peter Eichstaedt.
pub dat March 28th
rec April 4, 2017
Wildblue Press
I requested this novel because it features my home ground - southwestern Texas and New Mexico. I found myself a new author to follow. Peter Eichstaedt writes a fast paced, intense story with believable, honest people involved in a tale that keeps you hopping. And his coverage of my country is real and true as well. This is a novel I am comfortable recommending to friends and family. I look forward to more by Peter Eichstaedt.
pub dat March 28th
rec April 4, 2017
Wildblue Press
August 19, 2017
An excellent thriller, if I do say so myself.
October 15, 2017
I was in the middle of two other books when this offering from Peter Eichstaedt and WildBlue Press landed on my doorstep. It's the first of the three that I finished, and in record time. Borderland is a wild, rollicking, did-that-just-happen, keep-at-it read detailing events that mirror the cartel drug wars on the much-in-the-news U.S./Mexican border, the shenanigans of American politics, and the sorry plight of the nation's newspapers, all of which is reason enough to dig in. But the character development, the actual writing, and the story itself act as a huge bonus to propel you through the pages.
What do you need to know? Suffice it to say that a death in the family brings investigative reporter/war vet Kyle Dawson back to his home town of El Paso ... and the sleigh ride begins in earnest. Every twist of fate and plot, each turn in the road, every decision made (for good or bad), only serves to draw you deeper into the details of the story.
One thing I know for certain: I'll be digging out more offerings from Mr. Eichstaedt, including The Dangerous Divide: Peril and Promise on the US-Mexico Border, proof that the author has a rich background in the stories he chooses to tell.
I highly recommend this novel for readers who like their mysteries gritty, their reporters whip-smart and daring, and who keep their Kindles fully charged.
What do you need to know? Suffice it to say that a death in the family brings investigative reporter/war vet Kyle Dawson back to his home town of El Paso ... and the sleigh ride begins in earnest. Every twist of fate and plot, each turn in the road, every decision made (for good or bad), only serves to draw you deeper into the details of the story.
One thing I know for certain: I'll be digging out more offerings from Mr. Eichstaedt, including The Dangerous Divide: Peril and Promise on the US-Mexico Border, proof that the author has a rich background in the stories he chooses to tell.
I highly recommend this novel for readers who like their mysteries gritty, their reporters whip-smart and daring, and who keep their Kindles fully charged.
July 2, 2017
Peter Eichstaedt delivers a powerful page-turner with his action-packed novel, “Borderland.” Clearly drawing on his colorful background as well-trodden veteran journalist and author spanning many of the world’s hotspots (Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, etc.), Eichstaedt comes through with solid storytelling that I felt ratcheted up the action when needed, but not at the expense of plot and pacing. Well-crafted characters and sinister settings, break-neck plot twists, political intrigue intertwined with a complex murder mystery, all teased out with a suspenseful narrative. Very well done and a highly recommended read. Left me wanting more, so looking forward to further adventures.
July 3, 2017
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley to read and review.
BORDERLAND by Peter Eichstaedt begins with Sam Dawson bound and blindfolded while being driven into the desert where he is executed by unknown kidnappers for undisclosed reasons.
Kyle Dawson is Sam’s son who returns to El Paso, Texas for his father's funeral and immediately begins asking questions about the circumstances surrounding his father's murder but gets few answers and commits himself to finding out who is responsible largely in part because of his strained relationship with Sam for years before his death due to his refusal to forgive his father's past sins.
Having experience as a well known investigative reporter for a newspaper in Washington who has a history of placing himself in harm’s way in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, Kyle is not hesitant to once again face danger to contact those who can provide the information he needs to find the killers of Sam.
Sam was a well known and loved figure in the borderland community of Rancho la Pena where he's been successful as a realtor in the development of the community, and has had several business contacts on both sides of the border which adds to the difficult task of solving the crime for Kyle.
Kyle learns that both political and narcotraficante – drug cartel interests could be a factor in the murder as he makes contact with the few people with inside knowledge who are willing to talk with him, and he finds that the lines between legitimate and illegal activities is blurred in the area on both sides of the border that he knew in his youth before moving from the area to pursue his career in journalism.
Peter Eichstaedt does a good job of avoiding much of what makes border tales involving cartels very predictable with the graphic detailed torture and murders related to the drug trade, while not dwelling on the violence it's not avoided but rather portrayed in a way that supports the story.
Kyle is solid in his professional life, but flawed in his personal life and he is believable as a man who re-evaluates the decisions he's made in the past that has alienated him from those closest to him.
I liked this book, but one aspect that was irritatingly notable is Eichstaedt overemphasizing Kyle’s bodily response to any confrontation with “his stomach tightened” more times than I could possibly note throughout the book. Hopefully as the cover shows this book as “A Kyle Dawson Novel”, more will follow and the author will find other ways to describe Kyle’s reaction to difficult situations encountered with others.
3 stars.
BORDERLAND by Peter Eichstaedt begins with Sam Dawson bound and blindfolded while being driven into the desert where he is executed by unknown kidnappers for undisclosed reasons.
Kyle Dawson is Sam’s son who returns to El Paso, Texas for his father's funeral and immediately begins asking questions about the circumstances surrounding his father's murder but gets few answers and commits himself to finding out who is responsible largely in part because of his strained relationship with Sam for years before his death due to his refusal to forgive his father's past sins.
Having experience as a well known investigative reporter for a newspaper in Washington who has a history of placing himself in harm’s way in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, Kyle is not hesitant to once again face danger to contact those who can provide the information he needs to find the killers of Sam.
Sam was a well known and loved figure in the borderland community of Rancho la Pena where he's been successful as a realtor in the development of the community, and has had several business contacts on both sides of the border which adds to the difficult task of solving the crime for Kyle.
Kyle learns that both political and narcotraficante – drug cartel interests could be a factor in the murder as he makes contact with the few people with inside knowledge who are willing to talk with him, and he finds that the lines between legitimate and illegal activities is blurred in the area on both sides of the border that he knew in his youth before moving from the area to pursue his career in journalism.
Peter Eichstaedt does a good job of avoiding much of what makes border tales involving cartels very predictable with the graphic detailed torture and murders related to the drug trade, while not dwelling on the violence it's not avoided but rather portrayed in a way that supports the story.
Kyle is solid in his professional life, but flawed in his personal life and he is believable as a man who re-evaluates the decisions he's made in the past that has alienated him from those closest to him.
I liked this book, but one aspect that was irritatingly notable is Eichstaedt overemphasizing Kyle’s bodily response to any confrontation with “his stomach tightened” more times than I could possibly note throughout the book. Hopefully as the cover shows this book as “A Kyle Dawson Novel”, more will follow and the author will find other ways to describe Kyle’s reaction to difficult situations encountered with others.
3 stars.
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August 9, 2018BEST STORY I HAVE READ IN MONTHS
Everyone has their individual opinion on what is outstandingly
good.
This book, “ BORDERLAND “ fills my requirements as an outstandingly good book.
I made time to read a few chapters whenever possible.
The author has a new fan named “ lazy-b “
Everyone has their individual opinion on what is outstandingly
good.
This book, “ BORDERLAND “ fills my requirements as an outstandingly good book.
I made time to read a few chapters whenever possible.
The author has a new fan named “ lazy-b “
December 26, 2019
Borderland.
Borderlands good, fast book. Characters were super right on. Kept you interested to the end. No questions about it very good.
Borderlands good, fast book. Characters were super right on. Kept you interested to the end. No questions about it very good.
March 3, 2025
Gjorde inget större intryck!
April 29, 2017
Sometimes you see reader praise a non-fiction book by saying it reads like fiction. In Borderland, the opposite is true and I mean that in the most complimentary way. The author uses his extensive journalism background to create a thriller that is not just packed with intrigue, action, scenery, and great characters, he makes it so believable. Unlike many characters in other thrillers who seem almost cartoonish in the way they're portrayed--whether too good to be true or too stereoptypically flawed (the PTSD former SEAL/RANGER/GREEN BERET who saw too much "over there" and has to discover his soft side and save the day/world)--Eichstaedt's characters resonate with realism while the storyline and writing retains the dramatic narrative.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews