The White Country

Texas Bureau of Investigation agent John Lourdes attempts to stamp out racial violence after the Mexican Civil War in this solid sequel to The Creed of Violence from the pseudonymous Teran. In 1911, Lourdes is sent to Laredo to track down “The Whiteman”—the anonymous, hooded leader of the Society, a white supremacist group. In recent months, the Whiteman has been leading the charge against a wave of Mexican immigrants fleeing from famine and corruption. Lourdes, who is mixed race, is sympathetic to the plight of Laredo’s Mexican Americans, and befriends Eduardo Barros, who, along with his beautiful daughter Marisita, publishes a resistance-minded newspaper, which makes both of them targets for the Society. With only himself and the local priest, Father Carlos, to rely on, Lourdes resolves to track down the Whiteman and keep Marisita safe from angry Society members. Teran ably captures the brutality of the period, as well as the passion propelling his characters to fight against the crushing weight of injustice. Comparisons to Cormac McCarthy are inevitable, but this will also appeal to fans of B. Traven and Upton Sinclair. Agent: Natasha Kern, Natasha Kern Literary. (Mar.)