Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Dey Street Books, and Rick Jervis for the advanced reader copy of the book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

I was about a third of the way through The Devil Behind the Badge when I had to call my daughter-in-law who grew up in Laredo, Texas, and ask her if it was as bad as this book was making it seem. We all know that drugs are a problem everywhere, but this was making it seem like drugs and prostitution were openly ignored by local law enforcement. She assured me it was not that bad and it was a rather nice city.

The Devil Behind the Badge tells the story of a series of killings in a twelve-day period in 2018 targeting sex workers in Laredo. The perpetrator was a Border Patrol supervisor whose mental deterioration seemed to go unnoticed by those he worked with. Rick Jervis reported on the killings, manhunt, and trial for USA Today and through that coverage and additional interviews has crafted a thrilling story to read. It took me a bit to get into it. That first third of the book set the scene for what was going to happen for the most part, and the book got much better from there.

I read a review that was critical of the author for how he portrayed Juan David Ortiz, the man who murdered four sex workers in a twelve-day period. All I can say is that person must not have read the book. Jervis is fair in that he paints Ortiz as guilty, but also gives background of what might have led him to this point. Ortiz served his country as a Navy Corpsman in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was on the front lines of the Iraq invasion, and as a medic saw a lot of the worst part of the war. He came back from there still wanting to serve his country. Part of his motivation for joining the Border Patrol was to help the migrants who were crossing the border.

How did he go from that to a serial killer? You’ll have to read the book. It seems to be a combination of many factors that led to that point, not the least of which was the residual effects of his service. Having lived through PTSD, depression, and anxiety myself, I can say the portrayal of Ortiz’s mental deterioration resonated with me.

I also liked Jervis’ depiction of the sex workers. Much as I’ve tried to help people understand that drug addicts have people who love them and care about them, Jervis does the same here with the four women who were killed. He gives the background of each and what led them to be on the streets selling their bodies to support their drug habits. A common theme is trauma and a desire to self-medicate to escape it.

I can’t say I enjoyed The Devil Behind the Badge but it was a good read. When writing about the crime, it’s more like a neutral observer seeing the tragedy all around in what happened. I can have sympathy for Ortiz in what he went through that led to the killing spree, and still see him as someone who needs to be behind bars.