THE EVOLUTION OF BEAUTY: How Darwin's Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World - and Us, by Richard 0. Prum. (Doubleday, $30.) A mild-mannered ornithologist makes an impassioned case for the importance of Darwin's second theory as his most radical and feminist. COMING TO MY SENSES: The Making of a Counterculture Cook, by Alice Waters with Cristina Mueller and Bob Carrau. (Clarkson Potter, $27.) The founder of Chez Panisse describes her early days, explaining how a visit to France awakened her interest in excellent food and how she came to embrace the use of organic ingredients. FASTING AND FEASTING: The Life of Visionary Food Writer Patience Gray, by Adam Federman. (Chelsea Green, $25.) Federman's biography is the first of a cult food writer who became famous with the 1986 publication of her influential book "Honey From a Weed." SING, UNBURIED, SING, by Jesmyn Ward. (Scribner, $26.) In her follow-up to the National Book Award-winning novel "Salvage the Bones," Ward tells the story of a Mississippi woman intent on making her fractured family whole again. THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1898, by Richard White. (Oxford, $35.) This sweeping history of the decades after the Civil War decries the spoliations White sees everywhere among Robber Barons and corrupt politicians. THE INTERNATIONALISTS: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World, by Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro. (Simon & Schuster, $30.) The two authors argue for the historic importance of the Kellogg-Briand Pact, an international agreement usually dismissed by historians as ineffectual and quixotic. In their revisionist view, the pact "reshaped the world map" and "catalyzed the human rights revolution." RESET: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, by Ellen K. Pao. (Spiegel & Grau, $28.) Combining memoir, self-help, tell-all and manifesto, Pao recalls the disillusionment that led her to sue a venture capital firm for gender discrimination. She lost, but showed the hurdles women still face in many fields. THE MISFORTUNE OF MARION PALM, by Emily Culliton. (Knopf, $25.95.) In Culliton's delightful and sneakily feminist debut novel, a Brooklyn mother is on the lam after embezzling thousands of dollars from her daughters' private school. BONES: Brothers, Horses, Cartels, and the Borderland Dream, by Joe Tone. (One World, $28.) A reporter brilliantly recounts the tale of a Texas bricklayer who laundered drug money for his brother, a cartel boss in Mexico, via the horse-racing industry. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books

When brick mason and naturalized U.S. citizen José Treviño lucks into buying Tempting Dash, a quarter horse that ends up winning crazy money at the races, and when that brick mason's brother is the blood-soaked chief of Mexico's Zetas cartel, José graduates from pesky interviews at his border crossings to a laser-focused FBI investigation. Journalist Tone's first foray into a book-length investigation is thorough and relentless. Painstakingly grounding this story in the misty beginnings of quarter-horse racing, Tone carefully describes the modern art and science of the sport. He gives the same careful treatment to every aspect of this story as it gallops between racetracks in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and California, chasing money and mayhem across the Mexican border. As José infiltrates the rarefied milieu of quarter-horse racing, Tone's fluid style and light touch reveal the detention, riches, obscurity, or horrifying death that awaits all the major players, including law-enforcement agents and collusive American ranchers. Tone's thoughtful coverage tells a tale of a borderland dream turned nightmare.--Martinez, Sara Copyright 2017 Booklist

Dallas Observer editor Tone's first book tells the saga of José Treviño, a family man who left Mexico in his teens and built a stable life as a bricklayer in Dallas. While he lived a life of toil, his younger brother Miguel, nicknamed Forty, rapidly rose in the Mexican Zeta cartel. So in 2010 when José abruptly became a racehorse owner, he caught the attention of rookie FBI agent Scott Lawson, who was certain of José's involvement in a money-laundering scheme for Forty. Lawson was correct: the racehorse operation involved numerous other people, including some of José's immediate family, several Mexicans with ties to Forty, and white Americans in the horse business, including Tyler Graham, the young scion of a family who owned a stud farm and who willingly agreed to cooperate with Lawson. Tone's tale is convoluted, mixing monetary transactions with horse racing and breeding and investigative minutiae, but parallels emerge between his three principals. José is a humble, hardworking guy trying to do well by his family. José's business, regardless of where the money comes from, is essential to Graham's own ambitions for his stud farm. Lawson comes from a law-enforcement background and wants to make his father proud and protect his fellow citizens. Tone follows these three players through the ensuing trial. By the end of the book, their drastically different fates serve as a bleak reminder that the American Dream is not accessible to everyone. Agent: David Patterson, Stuart Krichevsky Literary. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A deep dive into the world of the Mexican drug cartels and their unexpected relationship with quarter horse breeding and racing in the southwestern United States.In his first book, former Dallas Observer editor Tone concentrates on the span of time between 2008 and 2013, and he ably keeps a large cast of characters in play. Chief among these are brothers Miguel and Jos Trevio, FBI agent Scott Lawson, and horse breeder Tyler Graham. He emphasizes the contrast between Miguel and Jos. Miguel, who later called himself "Quarenta" or "Forty," became the infamously violent leader of Los Zetas cartel. Meanwhile, Jos crossed the border to the U.S. to work as a mason and become an American citizen. However, after he had been in America decades, he suddenly started purchasing racehorses for large amounts of cash, including a young stallion nicknamed "Huesos," or "Bones," for his gawky build. The FBI, in a team led by newbie Lawson, who had recently moved to Texas, began investigating the strong possibility that Forty was using his brother to launder drug money. In the process, Lawson recruited Graham, who ran the ranch that housed Huesos, as an informant. Throughout the book, Tone maintains a vivid and balanced narrative; he tells the story clearly, relatively objectively, and without oversimplification. The author is somewhat hampered by the fact that only Lawson would consent to talk with him, which makes the agent come across as the most well-rounded and sympathetic character. However, Tone does his best to understand the other people involved, using thorough research to get a palpable sense of their lives and motivations. A suspenseful story as well as a fascinating depiction of the mechanics of money laundering, the largely unfamiliar world of quarter horse racing, and the dynamics of an extended family, the book draws readers into the complexities of life at the border. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Former Dallas Observer editor Tone writes of the different paths of two brothers. Born on the Mexican side of the border, José Treviño eventually moved to Dallas to work as a bricklayer and build a small business. His brother Miguel, however, chose a path of crime-he joined the bloody Zeta cartel and was rumored to have committed atrocities. José loved racehorses, and at a quarter horse auction, he bid the largest sum on record, which caught the attention of rookie FBI agent Scott Lawson. Lawson recruited the ranch owner who would eventually breed José's champion horse, Bones, to help him infiltrate the cartel and catch Miguel. The story of Bones and the insider knowledge on horse racing interweave with the FBI's hunt for Miguel and the portrayal of cartel life to create something original. Verdict Set against the background of horse racing, this tale goes deeper, giving a peek into the drug world and police work. Though the writing style is dry at times, the story provides a riveting look into these realms and could be a solid crossover for horse lovers and true crime fans.-Kristen Calvert, Marion Cty. P.L. Syst., Ocala, FL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.