A beautifully written and deeply affecting crime novel dealing with the wasted life of an American boxer in the city of Juarez, Mexico, the missing women of that city and ultimately a small amount of justice that is awarded them. Hawken writes with a maturity that is rare for a first novel, and achieves both a great crime novel and a work that transcends the genre. This is the real deal: tragic, dark, heartfelt. The Dead Women of Juarez deserves to be massive. -- Dave Zeltserman
Sam Hawken's novel, The Dead Women of Juarez is the most stunning piece of work I've read in a long time. Based on the horrific true murders of those women, it is an instant classic. The main character, Kelly, is one of the utterly compelling characters I've ever read. A beautiful compassionate gruelling novel, as ferocious to read as it is soul wrenching. Think The Wrestler meets Under the Volcano with the awful truth of the main events being true. The depiction of the underbelly of Mexico is Dante's vision of hell, fuelled on drugs. A wondrous love affair between the washed up ex-boxer and the Mexican lady Paloma is epic and beautiful in its terrible foreboding. This book will haunt you for a long long time and the dignity given to the mothers of the lost women is writing of a whole other dimension. -- Ken Bruen
This is a remarkable debut novel that heralds an exciting new talent to hit the crime writing scene. For just over 300 pages of gripping storytelling this book quite simply doesn't put a foot wrong. * Crimesquad.com *
Hawken trades in gritty realism... * Irish Times *
The Dead Woman of Juarez is a gritty, gripping noir. Like the best crime fiction, it also holds a mirror to some pretty horric realities and a fight for justice that shows no signs of being won anytime soon. If this is what Hawken does with his first novel, I'm looking forward to his next. * Crime Fiction Lover *
