Chris Ciulla

Illegal Chris Ciulla

Trial lawyer Jimmy "Royal" Payne was his own worst enemy-until now. Haunted by personal tragedy and wanted by the cops, Payne needs to skip town. What he doesn't need is Tino Perez, a gutsy twelve-year-old Mexican boy in search of his missing-and undocumented-mother. But Payne's ex-wife, an L. A. P. D. detective he still loves, makes him a deal: help the boy or go to jail. Soon Payne is following Tino into the darker side of the American dream. From bloody Mexicali to the bullet-ridden San Joaquin Valley, Payne is be swept into the dark current of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and sexual slavery-all the while, navigating the twisted border between justice and revenge.