Carl is a Yankee cop in a small Texas border town. Isabella is a beautiful Mexican woman that everyone in town loves, including the hapless Pete and the wealthy, powerful Jack Talbott...but most of all, Carl. He runs in trouble in two separate stories, first with Pete and then with Jack. The final story comes from a different perspective - lifelong La Sombra resident John Calhoun, who also runs afoul of the power structure in this small town.

Part romance, part police procedural, part social commentary, IN THE SHADOW OF EL PASO contains three short stories by Frank Zafiro. All three stories explore love, race, class and the ambiguity that exists on the southern border of the United States.