Author(s): Joe Tone

True Crime

Two brothers live parallel lives on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border. This is the dramatic true story of how their worlds collided in a major criminal conspiracy. Jose Trevino was raised in Nuevo Laredo on the Mexican side of the border, one of thirteen children born to a hard-working ranch hand. He grew up loving the sprawling countryside and most of all the tough, fast quarter horses that dominate sports in the region and attract huge bets.In search of opportunity Jose crossed the border into Dallas to build a humble business as a bricklayer. Meanwhile, his older brother Miguel had ascended to the top of the infamously bloody Zeta cartel and was said to have burned rivals alive, eaten victims' hearts, and launched grenades at the US Consulate. But Jose, married with kids and now a US citizen, kept his nose clean.Then one day Jose showed up at a quarter horse auction and bid close to a million dollars for one horse - the largest amount ever paid at auction. The bricklayer quickly became a major player in the quarter horse racing scene that thrived on both sides of the border and caught the attention of rookie FBI agent Scott Lawson, who was himself raised on a horse ranch. He enlisted Tyler Graham, a young American rancher who was breeding Trevino's champion horse - nicknamed Huesos, or Bones - to infiltrate what was revealing itself to be a major money laundering operation, with the ultimate goal of capturing the notorious Miguel Trevino.The powerful horse may drive the narrative but Bones goes deeper, shedding light on the drug war, the perilous lives of American ranchers, the Sisyphean work of drug cops, and how greed and fear mingle with race, class, and violence along the vast Southwest border region. At its heart, this riveting crime drama, set against the high-stakes world of horseracing, is an intimate story about two brothers, family loyalty, and the tragic costs of a failed drug war.