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11th out of 98 books
—
35 voters
The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border
Despite the fact that Juarez is a Mexican border city just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, most Americans are unaware that for more than twelve years this city has been the center of an epidemic of horrific crimes against women and girls, consisting of kidnappings, rape, mutilation, and murder, with most of the victims conforming to a specific profile: young, sl...more
Hardcover, 316 pages
Published
March 27th 2007
by Atria Books
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i went to juarez this past february with charles. easily the scariest and most tragic place I’ve ever been. we met a local and paid him to show us the city. here’s some of what we saw:
- whole parts of town in which ‘houses’ were mere bits of cardboard, wood, and corrugated tin held together by found nails and bottlecaps.
- tanks and guys with AK47s outside police stations: in the first 5 weeks of 2008 the juarez drug cartel had already killed 22 cops, so the army was called in.
- guys openly sel...more
- whole parts of town in which ‘houses’ were mere bits of cardboard, wood, and corrugated tin held together by found nails and bottlecaps.
- tanks and guys with AK47s outside police stations: in the first 5 weeks of 2008 the juarez drug cartel had already killed 22 cops, so the army was called in.
- guys openly sel...more
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Aug 09, 2007
Renee
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
true crime buffs
Shelves:
crime-forensics
The Daughters of Juarez, by Teresa Rodriguez (with Diana Montané and Lisa Pulitzer), chronicles a series of horrific murders of young women (and teens) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, over the last fourteen years, the law enforcement/governmental response to them, and the myriad theories as to the perpetrator(s). Over this period, a good part of 400 poor women were raped, tortured and killed, then dumped in desert areas and vacant lots around the city. The book details a rich tapestry of police and go...more
I just finished Daughters of Juarez, by Teresa Rodriguez, which I didn’t want to read and didn’t want to like. I can’t really say I liked it, and it isn’t particularly well-written or easy to read, but it is an eye-opener about something that we, educated individuals with resources, take for granted, human rights, and which is almost nonexistent for the poor, disenfranchised individuals in any country, but particularly in countries where poverty is pervasive. I finished it feeling like an Ostric...more
A very intense and infuriating book. I couldn't help but feel disbelief at the all the corruption in Mexico on all levels of the government: municipal, state, and federal. Since the killings in 1993, over 430 women have been raped, tortured, and murdered in the city of Juarez. Many of these women, found strewn all around the city's deserts and even some within the city, were poor women who worked at maquiladoras (mostly U.S factories) for extremely low wages. Their devotion to their jobs was ext...more
Over the past fifteen years, the bodies of over four hundred women have been found in and around Ciudad Juarez in Mexico (across the Rio Grande from El Paso, TX). They had been raped, tortured, mutilated, dismembered. This book, mostly written by a reporter from Univision, the Spanish-language network, recounts the various developments (or lack thereof) in the quest to find out who is behind the massacre. It's a real-life farce that would be funny if it weren't happening to real women. Nearly a...more
I felt absolutely powerless as I read this book in the park--where I had a clear view of La Ciudad Juarez from the bench. The things that were most shocking were not the murders, as the commentary on the government and culture of a country that shares so much with our own. It is absolutely horrifying that the attitudes towards women and crimes against women that exist in Mexico do so in this day and age.
The main complaint that I have heard about this book was that the writing style was over-the-...more
The main complaint that I have heard about this book was that the writing style was over-the-...more
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This book is chronology of the events that happened in Ciadad Juarez, Mexico, from 1993 until now. A killer or killers have been terrorizing this large, impoverished, hard-working community. Between 1993 and today, there have been over 300 murders of children, teenage, and young-adult women. The bodies have been carelessly dumped, with signs of torture, rape, and mutilation. The Mexican community is outraged that the government doesn't have the requisite police force, or the man power to launch...more
Un relato espantoso y inquietante del reinado del terror en Ciudad Juárez. Desde el año 1993, se han descubierto más de 400 cadáveres, la mayoría muyeres de la clase obrera. Rodríguez investiga la serie de asesinatos y describe el contexto en que ocurría y sigue ocurriendo: la influencia de la industrias que explotan la fuerza laboral, el narcotráfico, la falta de consideración para las mujeres y sus derechos, y la incompetencia y corrupción de los autoridades y la policía. Rodríguez describe lo...more
A pressing human rights issue is occurring in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Young women, many of them indigent factory workers, are being killed in a serial murder fashion, their bodies dumped in the desert.
The level of corruption and incompetence in the official response to the murders will take your breath away. Rodriguez leaves readers with little doubt that the police, and possibly other government officials, have a hand in the reign of terror. Crime scenes are contaminated, crucial evidence is lo...more
The level of corruption and incompetence in the official response to the murders will take your breath away. Rodriguez leaves readers with little doubt that the police, and possibly other government officials, have a hand in the reign of terror. Crime scenes are contaminated, crucial evidence is lo...more
This book is devastating to read but I couldn't stop. I think the author tried to show, throughout the book, that the situation in Juarez was and is very complex and that the murders of these young women have everything to do with corruption, sexism and poverty. It is so painful to read what the families of the victims have gone through and as a reader I laughed out loud bitterly more than once at the ridiculous assertions police and government officials made. I wondered frequently: was this a p...more
Although I'm giving this book 3 stars, I couldn't put it down, and read it in 3 days while on vacation in Oaxaca.
Written by Mexican TV journalist Teresa Rodriguez, this non-fiction book makes the sickening but convincing argument that the Mexican government has been aiding and abetting, through incompetence and outright institutionalized sexism, the unknown killers who have kidnapped and brutally murdered over 400 girls and women in Ciudad Juarez.
I found the prose wooden and the details of the a...more
Written by Mexican TV journalist Teresa Rodriguez, this non-fiction book makes the sickening but convincing argument that the Mexican government has been aiding and abetting, through incompetence and outright institutionalized sexism, the unknown killers who have kidnapped and brutally murdered over 400 girls and women in Ciudad Juarez.
I found the prose wooden and the details of the a...more
This is between a 3-4 for me. There is sensationalist writing, peppered with cliche, which I find off putting. I disagree with some reviewers that there are overwhelming organizational problems. It seems to me that the organization of the book might have been quite calculated to speak to a reader, quite profoundly, whether she reads one chapter, three or the entire book. It's a difficult book, frequently quite gruesome--but a terribly important witness to all the women killed in Juarez (Chihuahu...more
Amazing. A very engaging crime story, while sickeningly real. I was always interested in the femicides that have been taking place in Ciudad Juarez, but I knew very little about them. This book is a great introduction.
I tore through this book in just a few days - it was simultaneously compelling and horrifying to read of the unfolding of several hundreds of women who have been murdered in Ciudad Juarez and the widespread institutional failures that will continue to leave many of these cases unsolved. It will leave you feeling shocked, sad, frustrated and angry. My heart goes out to the families who have had to face these gruesome tragedies and will always live with unanswered questions. It definitely moved to...more
Great book. Shows frustration that the family of these victims go through with the justice system. Great read!!!
I know that there is some debate about the use of the term femicide and some people were upset that Rodriguez just focused on the killings of women, instead of the vast amount of murder. However, if you have read 2666, you should read this. Rodriguez is a reporter for Univision and while she feels passionately about the subject, she does step back. She presents infromation, when she debates about conclusions she quotes from experts and does NOT put forward her own take. She limits the debate to...more
Oh my! This book brings to light the sexual attacks, torture, and murders of impoverished young women and girls in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico beginning in 1993 up to the time of writing, which was 2006. More than 430 women were murdered during that period, and hundreds more have never been found. The book does not provide a definitive answer as to who the responsible parties are, but does give insight into the prevailing way of thinking/problem solving in that area, which may have much to do...more
I wanted a great deal more from this, especially in terms of research and documentation. While anything that brings this ongoing femicide to international awareness is laudable, this book felt topical in the manner of an A&E hour-long special on the Manson Family.
If the purpose was to give general information and incite people to action, the book should have included a list of places to contact for the reader to obtain more information and get involved in doing something.
This is a useful ove...more
If the purpose was to give general information and incite people to action, the book should have included a list of places to contact for the reader to obtain more information and get involved in doing something.
This is a useful ove...more
Haunting and true. This feels much more real and sensational than a typical true crime book. Doesn't leave you with that gross Ann Rule feeling--but still packs a whallop.
Details the sage of the young womens deaths going on in Cuidad Juarez since the 90s--and these killings still continue to this day--unsolved. Looks at the victims, the families, and city, and the police force--as well as community agencies that are created to deal with the ongoing tragedy.
Deals with rape and femicide as femin...more
Details the sage of the young womens deaths going on in Cuidad Juarez since the 90s--and these killings still continue to this day--unsolved. Looks at the victims, the families, and city, and the police force--as well as community agencies that are created to deal with the ongoing tragedy.
Deals with rape and femicide as femin...more
I heard the author interviewed on NPR, and had to read the book. The events described are horrific by themselves, but the fact that the U.S. has put no pressure on the Mexican government to resolve these events is beyond belief. That and the fact that U.S. companies like GE and many others are a party to these events by doing nothing to protect the women who work at their Mexican factories. This is a must read to understand what is going on right here in America and the exploitation of Mexican w...more
Well, after reading this I never want to visit Juarez Mexico. This is pretty depressing. The that people that effected are helpless and the people that could help seem uninterested. Unlike other true crime books, there isn't a concrete villain or villains, just a lot of speculation and a lot of dead girls. Conditions that people live in this part of \ Mexico seem shocking, but I'm living in Bangkok Thailand right now, there seems to be many similarities. Perhaps what is shocking is so many North...more
The Daughters of Juarez / 978-0-7432-9203-0
"The Daughters of Juarez" is a heart-breaking and truly eye-opening expose of literally hundreds of serial murders of innocent girls and women, just south of the United States - Mexico border. As a reader, I was surprised and shocked to realize that I had heard little to nothing about these murders, despite their proximity to my home in the southwestern United States.
I highly recommend this book to all readers; though I do not know what we can do to hel...more
"The Daughters of Juarez" is a heart-breaking and truly eye-opening expose of literally hundreds of serial murders of innocent girls and women, just south of the United States - Mexico border. As a reader, I was surprised and shocked to realize that I had heard little to nothing about these murders, despite their proximity to my home in the southwestern United States.
I highly recommend this book to all readers; though I do not know what we can do to hel...more
What did I learn from this book? Don't go to Juarez. :P
This is a book about the series of murders in and around Juarez, a city across the border from El Paso. For the last ten or so years, women have been murdered in disturbing numbers. The victims are usually poor, young, or working at night in the factories in the city. No one has ever figured out why, or who, and the one guy that's ever actually been convicted of any of these murders probably didn't do it.
The author investigates many theories...more
This is a book about the series of murders in and around Juarez, a city across the border from El Paso. For the last ten or so years, women have been murdered in disturbing numbers. The victims are usually poor, young, or working at night in the factories in the city. No one has ever figured out why, or who, and the one guy that's ever actually been convicted of any of these murders probably didn't do it.
The author investigates many theories...more
Gruesome tale of murders of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The book was published in 2006, if I remember correctly, and to that time almost 500 poor women and young girls had been raped, mutilated, and murdered without their murderers being brought to justice. The story of cover-ups, fumbling investigations, no investigations, disrespect toward the women victims and their families, torture of scapegoat accused suspects, incompetence, and other malfeasance is distressing.
Two-and-a-half stars. The Juarez femicides are an important story but this book does not offer a satisfactory narrative about them.
For a fuller & more varied perspective I recommend reading Alma Guillermoprieto's three essays below:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003...
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/20...
A book that leaves me speechless, the fact that the police could seemingly ignore the rape and murder of these young girls. Disparage their famillies and their characters, and then when they find remains act as callously as they do towards those who have lost a loved one was disgusting.
The attitude of those in power who rather than find the guilty find a suitable scapegoat and spend resources blaming them while the killings go on.
Not spectacularly well written, but thought provoking.
The attitude of those in power who rather than find the guilty find a suitable scapegoat and spend resources blaming them while the killings go on.
Not spectacularly well written, but thought provoking.
The author did a very good investigative work, when it came to tell the heartbreaking count of the femicides that have been happening in ciudad juarez for more than ten years. She remained objective, and she portrays a harsh, cruel, corrupt reality not only of the judicial system in mexico, but of its law enforcement agencies and the lack of investigation. However i did come across a few historical and law related innacuracies. Overall good book, easy to read. I reccommend it.
Hard to comprehend the police's...incompetence...corruption...whatever.
Juarez, Mexico has serious crime and drug issues. It has one of the highest murder rates in the world. The Daughters of Juarez focuses on one portion of the crime in the area: the unsolved killings of young women. Over the years hundreds of women have been killed. Many of them have been raped and mutilated.
After I read the book, I felt stunned. How in the world is the government and police so corrupt that this has happened? I...more
Juarez, Mexico has serious crime and drug issues. It has one of the highest murder rates in the world. The Daughters of Juarez focuses on one portion of the crime in the area: the unsolved killings of young women. Over the years hundreds of women have been killed. Many of them have been raped and mutilated.
After I read the book, I felt stunned. How in the world is the government and police so corrupt that this has happened? I...more
Apr 23, 2010
Desiree
is currently reading it
OH MY GOODNESS, this is a shocking tale of murder and corruption just south of the border in the city of Juarez, Mexico. Since 1993 there have been countless documentaries, news articles, and many investigations including by the U.S. done but, the brutal rape and murder of hundreds of poor young mexican women continue still. You will be outraged when you read this book!
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