Though not a journalist, Winslow did extensive research, over 15 years, to write what has been praised by journalists as a magnum opus on the Mexican drug cartels. Winslow's vast and illuminating look at the DEA's war on drugs spans 40 years in these two combined novels: Power of the Dog, 1975 to 2005, and The Cartel 2005 to 2015.
It's enough to make you wonder if Winslow has watched these events repeat themselves so often that he can predict what can happen next. NPR's Alan Cheuse referred to The Cartel as a "True Crime Adventure," and how much truer can it get? Winslow's fictional parallel runs staggeringly close to the truth with his creation of the Sinaloa drug cartel kingpin, Adán Barrera, shadowing El Chapo - even breaking out of his maximum security confinement.(excuse the spoiler).
For readers of Winslow's Power of the Dog (2005), and especially The Cartel, this is an eerie coincidence. This is his second escape from a maximum security prison after vowing he could not be contained, and after the Mexican government (that refused to extradite him to the United States) vowed he would not escape again. This Just In.Life imitating Art: Today the world's most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, escaped from a maximum security prison in Mexico. Start Me Up if you start me up I'll never stop Nonetheless, Winslow is a new favorite author. The book has a medium Marxist-liberationist-SJW bend. These seem to be reflections of Winslow’s world view. I do find it amusing that only in fiction can President O be referred to as "one cool cat," and that communist journalists are portrayed as noble and unbiased. Children are our innocence, and that guy never had a chance. Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you? They are the convergences of two sides of the same coin. I enjoyed the scenes where Keller and Berrera interacted. The work's diverse character lines provided a suspenseful atmosphere in several subplots.
Winslow also does an exceptional job weaving several subplots into a cohesive story-line.ĭid the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How? I enjoyed the blend of action and in-depth character development. Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why? It is the story of the war on drugs and the men - and women - who wage it. The Cartel is a true-to-life story of honor and sacrifice as one man tries to face down the devil without losing his soul. Keller fights his personal battle against the devastated backdrop of Mexico's drug war, a conflict of unprecedented scale and viciousness, as cartels vie for power and he comes to the final reckoning with Barrera - and himself - that he always knew must happen. His obsession with justice - or is it revenge? - becomes a ruthless struggle that stretches from the cities, mountains, and deserts of Mexico to Washington's corridors of power to the streets of Berlin and Barcelona. Unwilling to live in a world with Barrera in it, Keller goes on a 10-year odyssey to take him down. Then Barrera gets out, determined to rebuild the empire that Keller shattered. Finally putting Barrera away cost Keller dearly - the woman he loves, the beliefs he cherishes, the life he wants to lead. DEA agent Art Keller has been fighting the war on drugs for 30 years in a blood feud against Adán Barrera, the head of El Federación, the world's most powerful cartel, and the man who brutally murdered Keller's partner. From the internationally best-selling author of the acclaimed novel The Power of the Dog comes The Cartel, a gripping, ripped-from-the-headlines story of power, corruption, revenge, and justice spanning the past decade of the Mexican-American drug wars.
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