The Reaper's Line: Life and Death on the Mexican Border

A true story of violence, drugs, human smuggling, and dirty politicians.

“I’ve fallen under the spell of a fabulously infatuating mistress,” writes Lee Morgan II in this searing memoir. “She” is Arizona’s beautiful, dangerous borderland, and this is the shocking true story of Morgan’s many years of combat there. A young Marine taught Morgan, aged 14, how to shoot a rifle. Then, he says, “my pseudo ‘big brother’ went on to infamously enter history books as the ‘Texas Tower Sniper.’” Haunted by the Grim Reaper, today’s Wild West is near anarchy. “To know the Mexican people is to love them,” writes Morgan, but he hates with righteous rage the crime and corruption he’s witnessed on both sides of the border. Discover why Morgan has been called the Serpico of the desert. Climb down with him into a “narco-tunnel” built by slave labor to smuggle drugs. Consider the huge social and political questions raised by Morgan’s passionate exposé. “I’ve been personally shot, shrapneled, slashed, clubbed, burned, and nearly dragged to death,” says the veteran lawman, who now lives with a Mexican bounty on his head. “It’s been a hell of a ride.” And it’s a hell of a story.

Lee Morgan II is a retired U.S. Customs Service Special Agent. His honors include a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his Vietnam service, as well as many awards for outstanding achievements during 31 years as a federal law enforcement official with the Departments of Justice, Treasury, and Homeland Security. He lives in Douglas, Arizona.