Fairly well-done piece of fiction, familiar in writing-style to Hank & Chloe. Constant intertwining of a Caucasian couple and a Mexican couple, particularly the men. Highlights tensions in California between the whites and the illegal immigrants. 
 Delaney hits Candido with his car, and so begins their various run-ins, as Delaney figures out his life, transforming from the environmentalist/humanitarian he so wants to think of as himself, to a bigotted, paranoiac man who shows more compassion for his family pets than for another human being. 
 Candido tries to support his "wife" who is 17 and pregnant. He promised they'd be living in an apartment, but ended up living in a canyong, lean-to and shack. No matter what he does, how hard he works, his intentions never pan out. Beaten, robbed, nearly killed in a forest fire he accidentally started, and finally surviving a mud-slide.