I tried I really tied. I realize and appreciate the effect this story had on California and its agricultural areas not to mention people crossing borders, which is still relevant, and drug wars, but this is just not my speed. It was written well for the most part, but I sometimes got the men confused with each other. I finally threw in the towel. Better luck next time (and no cartels ).

Super interesting case that is not well-known in California. I live in Northern California and had never heard of the case and I'm up to date on most true crime things, especially in California. Very well-researched and written!

wasn't thrilled with this one. It was difficult to finish, but I did. I don't regret reading it , but it just wasn't my cup of tea

This book was excellent. Taking the best cues from such establishing classics as In Cold Blood and The Onion Fields, Jessica Garrison has written a true crime for our times. Why do we care when some people die, but not others? What does it mean to be worth the investigation in america? This book tackles so many questions around class and race in America today; it is an urgent and necessary read.

Now THIS is exactly what true crime nonfiction needs more of 👏👏👏⁣
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Over the past year, I’ve really had to reckon with how much I love true crime and how problematic it is, particularly its focus on white victims. THE DEVIL’S HARVEST not only spotlights Latinx victims and immerses you in the culture of Central Valley agricultural communities, but is also unputdownable. ⁣
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Jose Martinez worked as a contract killer throughout the United States for over 30 years, mostly taking out hits stemming from drug deals gone bad. Because his victims were usually poor and brown, it took years for police to connect what at times were extremely obvious dots. When he was finally caught in 2013, he confessed to 36 killings, though he was only convicted of 9. ⁣
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I just can’t say enough about how this book does what so many do not: prioritizes victims who are usually ignored while valuing the cultural context that leads people to seek extrajudicial justice. You won’t regret reading this one. ⁣

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

"I was a nice man before they killed my sister," Jose Manuel Martinez explained to Jessica Garrison in an interview. Garrison, BuzzFeed's West Coast investigations editor, learned of Martinez in 2014 when law enforcement reported capturing a professional hitman. The Devil's Harvest is a chilling and hypnotic account of Garrison's discussions with Martinez, stunningly blended with in-depth research into his crimes, the culture that spawned and spurred them, the authorities who chased him and the carnage left in his wake.

An adoring and gregarious family man, Martinez turned toward fierce protection of women and children after his older sister was murdered. Asked to avenge the rape of a friend's sister, he readily agreed and found he liked killing. Martinez lived in California's Central Valley, where income disparity is the state's highest. Martinez's "greatest asset" as a killer was understanding America's dark truth. "If you kill the 'right people'--people who are poor, who are not white... and who don't have anyone to speak for them--you can get away with it." He had found an ideal place to ply his trade.

A story with a complicated backdrop, The Devil's Harvest includes ideal measures of nearly half a century of Central Valley history (grape strikes, the rise of drug cartels, anti-immigrant sentiment) that reinforce the narrative and intrigue. Martinez's 35-year run of mayhem was dreadful; the ongoing concept that some lives count more than others is a plague. Garrison's writing is enthrallingly thriller-esque while it sheds light on real-world horrors.

STREET SENSE: If you're a fan of true crime, psychopathy, "mind of the serial killer" stories or cold case investigations, this is the book for you. It's one of those books that will make you (well, it made ME) want to go down several rabbit holes.

COVER NERD SAYS: I love most of the visuals of this cover, but I don't think the background color does it any favors. Maybe it's just a personal preference, but it feels washed out and flat. I get the Valley is dusty, but I think a gray sky over that sun/in the clouds would have made the image pop more. This is also a very OCD thing, but it feels a tad unbalanced with the heavy visual at the bottom and the heavy font in the middle. So nit-picky me would have changed a couple things, but overall I think this cover presents the ominous tone that fits the book.

It's amazing and disgusting that someone could spend decades killing immigrants in the Central Valley without most people ever hearing about it. This account is obviously well researched and detailed. The crimes are told dispassionately and the thoroughly with background details of some very complicated relationships.

I didn't know anything about Jose Martinez prior to reading this book, but wow was he fascinating! I love reading and watching true crime and knew I would love this one about a man that lived a secret life as a drug cartel debt collector and hitman that was able to escape being found out for decades. The journals entries that the author included in this book are chilling. I highly recommend this one!

4 Stars For Jessica Garrison's dedicated work in fleshing out this true crime story. She brings to life a man who has done the killings of more than 40 people over 3 decades. The insight into this man who is not sorry for his crimes is important because he also was like another person when it came to his family.
He was a man who looked out for them and loved them and showed it.
Very interesting read.

This story about the deadly killer held my interest as it followed him and the men who were trying to catch him. He was really slick at getting away with his various crimes for a long time. He could travel almost anywhere he needed to go to do a job for someone, with no one the wiser. He’d go in and take care of the hit and be gone before the body even began cooling. But there is more to Martinez than just being a brutal killer. He is also a man who is involved in his family. While he may not always be faithful to his wives, he is always there for his children and his mother through the decades. I found this to be an interesting true crime book that turned out to be more current that I realized. Advanced electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Jessica Garrison, and the publisher.

This true crime book tells the story of Jose Martinez, also known as El Mano Negra, or the Black Hand. He killed almost 40 people in 30 years. Some he was paid to kill. Others just rubbed him the wrong way or spoke ill of his family. He escapes capture for many years, and when he is finally apprehended, he shows no remorse for his crimes and seems to take pleasure in retelling them.

Garrison has an easy-to-read writing style and I breezed through the book pretty quickly. There is no question that she put in a great deal of time and research into this book. The sheer number of murders and cases, each with their own cast of characters, could not have been easy to go through. While I appreciate the amount of work that went into the book, I just was not as interested as I have been with other true crime books. Could it be because I have never heard of Martinez and his murders are hardly well known? Perhaps.

Garrison also discussed the migrant farming communities and small towns in Central Valley, CA that are poverty stricken and laden with drugs and violence with little to no help from law enforcement. I wanted to hear more about that, although that would need to be a stand alone book.

Overall, an interesting look into drug cartels and contract killings with a side of social commentary into the poor, hardworking and often overlooked Mexican American communities.

This book tells us the incredible story of Jose Martinez's reign of terror in California's Central Valley, spanning over 3 states and almost 4 decades. I was completely engrossed as I read about his childhood being a dirt poor farm worker and losing his father. It was then his mother married a well known drug dealer in the area, and Martinez was taught how to shoot guns and smuggle drugs.

His first killing was a man who he had been told raped a woman, although nothing ever proved it. He also shot a man for parking in his driveway and yet another for calling his eldest daughter a B****. He made money by contact killings, delivering drugs, threatening people, and taking people to and from Mexico. Yet, he had his family fooled the whole time, being a nice, giving family member and giving away the money he had made doing his terrible deeds. It's almost like he considered himself the Robin Hood, although he went by the nickname of El Mano Negra, "The Black Hand".

Now other parts of the book were interesting don't get me wrong, but they really didn't tie in with the story so when I read the working conditions of the farmworkers in Central Valley, how they were sprayed with pesticides, how they had little to no help from the police, how they did not have clean drinking water, I was a little disappointed. I found myself feeling sorry for them, but I was more interested in reading about Martinez.

Thank You Net Galley for another free sample.

True Crime.

An in-depth look into a drug cartel member who murdered so many - all in the name of drug warfare.

This book was intense and it made me unbelievably angry. I cannot believe the corruption that occurs within cartels.

This book was extremely interesting and upsetting at the same time. I've read countless true crime novels but they never get easier to read. Senseless violence - like the type of violence in these pages - is completely unacceptable. And the people that should have been protecting the communities were nowhere to be found.

If you are interested in learning more about cartels, this would be a good book for you. However, beware, there is a lot of upsetting material.

I’ve been following murder and true crime books since I was a preteen (my parents should have paid more attention to what I read in the 90s but I digress). I had never heard of this guy! And why? Guessing because he was Mexican and the people he killed were of little consequence to mainstream media. This book was excellently researched and written.