This overwhelming story opens in the vast expanse of desert that borders Mexico City. A couple passing by randomly hear the cries of a child, and finds an infant stubbornly sucking on the breast of its dead mother. We then move several years ahead in time, to the story of three young men who live in the shadow of something that has not yet been revealed. We encounter people who are trapped by their own helplessness and low social status. They are marked by religious and personal penance as the plot moves subtly toward elucidation. bb