New Book
This suspenseful true story of a drug cartel hitman who got away with murder after murder in California’s Central Valley over three decades 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?
About the Author:
Jessica Garrison is an investigations editor for BuzzFeed News and spent more than a decade as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times.
Why Is It So Easy To Get Away with Murder? at Zócalo Public Square
All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days by Rebecca Donner Reviews:
“Jessica Garrison is a writer to watch. Her ease with language and graceful storytelling make her a welcome new voice on the California literary scene. This book sheds light on the neglected history of American homicide and weak justice as it plays out in migrant farmworker communities and on the distinct challenges of rural policing, which are too often overlooked in the national conversation on violent crime.”—JillLeovy, New York Times bestselling author of Ghettoside
“With great empathy and exhaustive research, Jessica Garrison weaves a compelling tale that is equal parts detective story and social commentary. The Devil’s Harvest is a different and much-needed California story–trenchant and timely in an era of staggering inequality.”—MiriamPawel, author of The Browns of California
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