Howling at the Second Moon

Summary

A propulsive border noir, darkly funny and unexpectedly sensual, by award-winning writer and director Sebastian Gutierrez

Willie Oates repairs old jukeboxes in South Texas and keeps to himself. A year ago, in a faded Mexico City hotel, he rescued a battered eighteen-year-old named Alondra, showing her a kindness she wasn’t used to. Now she’s back with a proposition. Thirty thousand dollars is riding through South Texas in a trafficker’s Ford Taurus, along with three migrants headed for a fate worse than deportation. Based on inside information from her best friend Luz, Alondra has a plan to steal the money and free the passengers. She just needs Willie’s help.

Then there’s Lael. Beautiful, sexually fearless, and dangerously devoted to Luz, Lael turns their perfect crime into a bloodbath, attracting the attention of Elroy Ramirez, a corrupt Texas Ranger with a personal stake in the stolen money. When Lael strikes a deal with Ramirez—kill Alondra and Willie, and Luz can go free—the four find themselves caught in a desperate chase across Texas and New Mexico, as Willie and Alondra fall in love and Luz begins to wonder whether being adored is another form of captivity.

Howling at the Second Moon is a fiercely original debut about desire, betrayal, and the danger that comes from loving someone too much.