Seldom do we see books that are technically fiction but based in hard reality and accurate historical details that match the brilliance of Don Winslow. I strongly encourage readers to read "The Power of the Dog" first, as it is the first half of a horrifying world of the Mexican drug cartels, their internal struggles, the jaw droppingly horrifying atrocities against anybody who dares cross a drug lord's path, or a cartel's.
"The Cartel" is the second part of this monumental series, and because the first part is highly suggested as the first one to read, although "The Cartel" stands on its own, I will not get into too many plot details. The primary character, Art Keller, who has many notches on his own belt due to fighting in Vietnam and battles in the "War on Drugs", is a marked man having crossed every drug kingpin of note in Mexico and their paid lackeys like federal troops, corrupt politicians and police forces on all levels, not to mention the extremely violent paramilitary troops who enforce the wishes of the leaders of the notorious Zetas, a cartel that has absolutely no code of honor whatsoever. Whereas the other main character, the head of the Sinoloan cartel, the very crafty and intelligent Adan Barrera, at least gives the impression of leaving innocents alone, the Zetas kill anybody any time, including little street level junkies who are found guilty of buying their dope from Barerra's cartel instead of them, and vice versa.
We can remember the horrible wars that racked Cuidad Juarez, the border city across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, where murders were being committed by the scores of victims, many mutilated and tortured and then dismembered and left on city streets as "lessons" for whatever infraction the cartels thought up on any given day. Winslow reports that in this phase of the internecine fighting, as many as close to 16000 Juarez citizens were gruesomely murdered in the space of just a couple of years. While that calamity has subsided somewhat, the worst border crimes focusing in Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, TX, where access to I-35, San Antonio, I-10 with its paths to Houston, New Orleans and beyond to Jacksonville, Florida is a temptation they can't ignore. Border agents, DEA agents and others are corrupted and many times because they want to live another day, so as we all know, the "war" on drugs is nothing but a lot of hot air, token busts, and was never designed to stop anything. There is simply far too much money to be made, and the U.S.' appetite for cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana is gargantuan. We as the consumers of these substances are just as culpable if we do use illicit drugs as the cartels, as they are only too happy to make tons of money and have huge international influence on whole governments while they're at it.
The book itself is so well written and researched that it truly belongs in the pantheon of the greatest crime novels or historical crime books, like "The Godfather" for the thrilling story and suspense, and "Wiseguys" and "Casino" for accuracy and explaining just how vicious and just plain psycho cartel bosses and their underlings can be. That the Mexican government is up to its eyeballs in the drug trade is not news, but one can't help but maybe feel a bit of empathy for some in said government and law enforcement who are paid to play, or brutally murdered, and oftentimes forced to watch their families die first. It isn't much of a choice.
Nonetheless, Winslow is a superb author, the two books gripping, and I can't wait to read his other novels. Be forewarned: "The Power of the Dog" and "The Cartel" are upsetting, depressing and disturbing. It's a story that needs to be told, however, and we must understand that as long as there is a demand for any kind of product or services, regardless of how dangerous or sinister, there will be a supply. It's a frustrating cycle that humanity bestowed upon itself.
armistead d puryear