Border Run

Naively following a Burmese jungle tour guide who has allured them with stories about seductive tribal women, backpackers Will and Jake discover that they have been set up to provide cover for the guide's deadly smuggling operation.

From the author of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize—nominated Bad Traffic, a fast-paced adventure novel about two young backpackers who find themselves in serious trouble in the jungle of Southeast Asia On the Burmese border, two naïve backpackers, Will and Jake, follow a tour guide into the jungle, tantalized by the possibility of dalliances with the tribal women who live there. At an idyllic waterfall, they discover that nothing is as it seems and their guide has his own agenda. It is not long before the two young men slip into a nightmarish spiral of murder and moral decay, their chance of survival determined by a game of hideand- seek played out with deadly crossbows. As the stakes get increasingly higher, the bonds of friendship are tested and lives are put on the line. Simon Lewis has written a gripping, amphetaminepaced novel about the hidden perils that can lurk in paradise, and the fine line that we draw for ourselves between what is “civilized” and what is not.

Arguing for immigration reform based on negotiation and cross-border accord, offers an historical analysis of border crossings, both Mexico to the United States and the United States to Mexico, revealing the symbiotic relationship between the two countries and their shared economic and cultural legacy.

The year is 2112. Jack Lightning runs an illegal immigration theme park in Arizona, not far from the Mexican border. While preparing for an annual fair on the grounds of his park, his ex-girlfriend shows up with a stranger who asks for help smuggling a real illegal alien into the country--the clone of Che Guevara.

Mexico and the United States exist in a symbiotic relationship: Mexico frequently provides the United States with cheap labor, illegal goods, and, for criminal offenders, a refuge from the law. In turn, the U.S. offers Mexican laborers the American dream: the possibility of a better livelihood through hard work. To supply each other’s demands, Americans and Mexicans have to cross their shared border from both sides. Despite this relationship, U.S. immigration reform debates tend to be security-focused and center on the idea of menacing Mexicans heading north to steal abundant American resources. Further, Congress tends to approach reform unilaterally, without engaging with Mexico or other feeder countries, and, disturbingly, without acknowledging problematic southern crossings that Americans routinely make into Mexico. In Run for the Border, Steven W. Bender offers a framework for a more comprehensive border policy through a historical analysis of border crossings, both Mexico to U.S. and U.S. to Mexico. In contrast to recent reform proposals, this book urges reform as the product of negotiation and implementation by cross-border accord; reform that honors the shared economic and cultural legacy of the U.S. and Mexico. Covering everything from the history of Anglo crossings into Mexico to escape law authorities, to vice tourism and retirement in Mexico, to today’s focus on Mexican border-crossing immigrants and drug traffickers, Bender takes lessons from the past 150 years to argue for more explicit and compassionate cross-border cooperation. Steeped in several disciplines, Run for the Border is a blend of historical, cultural, and legal perspectives, as well as those from literature and cinema, that reflect Bender’s cultural background and legal expertise.

PhuketPattayaBangkokKo SamuiThailand. For those that know, or those that travel or have traveled, these words generate visions of great beaches and wonderful sunsets, delicious food and inexpensive dining, crowded markets and unusual bargains, sex and sin, friendly people, pleasant good times and a slower, more laid back lifestyle. They connect us to feelings of adventure, romance, intrigue, excitement andhappiness. In this volume, a long time resident of Thailand shares useful information and insights about these places. Both the experienced traveler and those considering their first overseas journey will find this information worthwhile and helpful