I am indebted to my friends and co-border-jumpers, John and Emily Sutcliffe, for so many things that I hardly know where to begin – so in no particular order: thank you for braving the snitches, the pimps, the drug dealers and that coyote with the bad skin. For not getting us shot in Du Quesne or having our truck, money and passports stolen in Nogales. For not being washed away in the slot canyons or arrested scrambling under the wire. For springing me from the Customs Building and for all those glorious dinners in La Roca – especially the one where the enormous Mexican with the gold bling put his hand round my ankle. Thank you for every charming Super 8 Motel and Best Western (free ironing board included), not to mention the scary lesbian B&B lady and the indecisive Mormon receptionist. Thanks for the old men singing in bars in Guadelajara, and for our enforced dormitory in Juanajuato. For Operacion Michoacan. For agent 66 and those nine-hour drives to the border I wished would never end. For sleeping in the back of the pickup and the story about the gluey mouse sandwich. For getting the giggles in the lay-by and informative tips on how to kill a man with a fire extinguisher and/or remove his kidneys when drunk. My thanks for all the margaritas that made us sick and the ones that didn’t and here’s to all the tequila we will drink together in the future. Above all my thanks for the humour, friendship, the shared experiences and observations, all of which I’ve ruthlessly plundered in my quest to get to ‘The End’. This book could not have been written without you.

I am equally indebted to Carole Van Wieck, for her lifelong friendship and unflagging moral support, her constant flow of brilliant ideas, and the sheer generosity which allowed her to spend a substantial amount of her day coming up with them in order to work through my many plot holes and twists. This book would have been equally impossible without you.

My thanks also to the following:

The Castillo family: Sonja, Marlene, Jésus, Nayzeth – and particularly Pancho, whose grit, determination and goodness have given his family the right to stand up and be counted.

Jack Richmond for the hardback photographs.

Billy-Joe Moffat for the paperback photographs.

My children Mabel and Finn for posing for them in the scorching heat.

Dr Nora Price of the Samaritan Patrol.

Russell Ahr, Mario Villareal, Mike Bermudaz and Amy Thornton of the Border Patrol.

‘Uncle Fester’ representing the California Minutemen.

Barbara Walker and Stewart Steves.

Stacey Workman for Tijuana.

Katrin and Cristoph for their ghost town.

Fernanda Goncalves, Donalda Dewar and Sarah Richardson for their loyalty and kindness.

Jack and Emmy Harries for the use of their names.