"Bezzerides creates an exciting, suspenseful, and sometimes brutally grim picture of the truckers and wholesalers who worked in the California produce industry during the 1930s and 1940s. He evokes an entire culture of farmers, mechanics, roadside waitresses, prostitutes, and low-level racketeers. Most of all, he vividly portrays the bitter struggles of first or second generation Americans who try to escape their wage-earning status, only to encounter frustration, violence, and death." --James Naremore, author of Acting in the Cinema