About the Book

A Moral Dilemma on the Border

Gretel savors new experiences, but this time she may have gone too far. On a lark, she resigned from the Environmental Protection Agency and has taken a position at Border Patrol headquarters. Her job is to teach agents how to comply with environmental laws as they track down undocumented immigrants.

Her first day is a disaster, and matters only get worse. Besides working alongside a male agent who seems to resent her as a tree-hugger, Gretel wonders whether she has made a huge moral mistake. She struggles to reconcile her Buddhist beliefs — especially the teaching about wise livelihood — with having a job in a broken system that too often results in tragic deaths in the southwest desert.

When troubles in her personal life also start to brew, not even her best friend can keep Gretel from making dangerous choices. Everything comes to a head one day at the office. During a routine weekly meeting, Gretel becomes fixated with the gun of an agent sitting in front of her. It would be so easy to just reach forward and grab it. Should she do it?