“With immediacy, ferocity and a deep sense of place, Tyler McMahon draws his reader into the complex world of American aid in foreign countries, in this case El Salvador. The main characters in Kilometer 99 are idealistic and sympathetic, but as they strive to protect themselves and each other in a country crumbling after a catastrophic earthquake, they are forced to make decisions that push them ever further from their moral center. In bold, tight prose, McMahon explores a world replete with drugs, corruption, money, and the undying devotion of two lovers pushed to the edge of their humanity.”—Kristiana Kahakauwila, author of This is Paradise