This one from Newark, New Jersey:

THIS IS FOR THE MARA SALVATRUCHA:

INSIDE THE MS-13, AMERICA’S MOST VIOLENT GANG

Samuel Logan

Hyperion, 256 pp., $23.95

REVIEWED BY JEAN GRAHAM

“This Is for the Mara Salvatrucha” is a comprehensive study of a violent, mostly Hispanic gang founded in the 1980s in Los Angeles. It now boasts 60,000 members worldwide and has so penetrating a presence in the United States that the FBI has created

a task force to curb its growth.

But the book also is the compelling story of the brief life and violent death of Brenda Paz, who joined MS-13 at 15 and was killed by fellow gang members before she turned 17 because they suspected she was a police informant.

Brenda was the smart, popular daughter of Honduran immigrants living in California whose life fell apart when her mother became mentally ill. The family returned to Honduras, but then sent Brenda to live with an uncle in Texas so she could attend high school in America.

Brenda missed her family, wasn’t happy in her uncle’s home and soon succumbed to the companionship offered by MS-13.

In no time, this promising teen was covered in tattoos characteristic of gang members, involved in the extortion activities the gang inflicted on the Latino community, arrested and sent to a juvenile detention center.

Law enforcement personnel — from local police to the FBI — saw Brenda’s potential as a window into the elusive MS-13, and she became an invaluable source of information.

Although officials went to great lengths to protect her, even placing her in a witness protection program,

Brenda’s loneliness ultimately drew her back to the gang, who welcomed her — until clues led them to believe she had ratted them out to the police, which meant they had to kill her.

Logan, a journalist who has written extensively about Latino gangs, tells Brenda’s story with sensitivity and brutal honesty.