Wolf Boys

Two American Teenagers and Mexico's Most Dangerous Drug Cartel

By: Dan Slater

Narrated by: Pete Simonelli

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

The story of two American teens recruited as killers for a Mexican cartel and their pursuit by a Mexican American detective who realizes the War on Drugs is unwinnable.

What's it like to be an employee of a global drug-trafficking organization? And how does a 15-year-old American boy go from star quarterback to trained assassin, surging up the cartel corporate ladder?

At first glance Gabriel Cardona is the poster-boy American teenager: great athlete, bright, handsome, and charismatic. But the streets of his border town of Laredo, Texas, are poor and dangerous, and it isn't long before Gabriel abandons his promising future for the allure of the Zetas, a drug cartel with roots in the Mexican military. His younger friend. Bart, as well as others from Gabriel's childhood join him in working for the Zetas, boosting cars and smuggling drugs, eventually catching the eye of the cartel's leadership.

Meanwhile, Mexican-born detective Robert Garcia has worked hard all his life and is now struggling to raise his family in America. As violence spills over the border, Detective Garcia's pursuit of the boys and their cartel leaders puts him face to face with the urgent consequences of a war he sees as unwinnable.

In Wolf Boys Dan Slater shares their stories, taking us from the Sierra Madre mountaintops to the dusty, dark alleys of Laredo, Texas, on a harrowing, often brutal journey into the heart of the Mexican drug trade. Gabriel's evolution from good-natured teenager into a feared assassin is as inevitable as Garcia's slow realization of the futile nature of his work.

A nonfiction thriller, Wolf Boys depicts more than just Gabriel, Bart, and the officers who took them down. It shows, through vivid detail and rich, often moving narrative, the way in which the border itself is changing, disappearing, and posing new terrifying and yet largely unseen threats to American security. Ultimately, though, Wolf Boys is the intimate story of the "lobos" themselves: boys turned into pawns for cartels. Their stories show how poverty, ideas about identity, and government ignorance have warped the definition of the American dream.

©2016 Dan Slater (P)2016 Simon & Schuster

Slow, but interesting

This story delves into a world many books do not. For that, I'm happy I spent so much time listening. However, it also has a ton of mundane, uninteresting details that probably could've been left out.

Gripping and tragic with annoying narration.

This story is a travesty of failed systems north and south of the border. The Wild West reincarnated. How unfortunate.

Similarly unfortunate is your choice of narrator. Surely you can find someone truly bilingual who is able to accurately pronounce the Spanish words as well as the English. The blatant errors were annoying.

Amazing.

This story is incredible and the entire world should read it. I will recommend this to everyone.

A ton of information

I actually enjoyed this audio-book. The author definitely did his homework, and the narrator was great.
There was a lot of info and a lot of names - I kind of had a hard time keeping up with everything.
I will listen to it again.

this book fleshes out a complicated issue

This book fleshed out and issue we often hear about in the news with no context, whatsoever. amazing listen.

Fascinating story

This is a tragic but fascinating story. It's as relevant today as when it was published in 2016, perhaps more so. I've seen several reviews where people didn't like the narrators performance, but I thought he did a fantastic job. I can't imagine anyone else reading it.

Great book

Really enjoyed listening to the audio version of this book. I will definitely listen to it again.

Really enjoyed Listening to this book

very in-depth, informative and engaging,and you really leave with an understanding of how the gang life can attract young men,but leaves you wondering ,as drugs do to your life how do they not see the consequences as the deterrent. Performance was a little boring,but well read.

Great book good narration

Excellent story and in contrast to the other reviewers I thought the narrator was terrific. It is accurate that his Spanish pronunciation was abysmal, that said he did a great job on everything else. If you want to hear a narrator who will truly ruin a book download anything read by Ken Kliban.

a book you have to finish

I've wanted to read this for a while. did not disappoint. very good. very sad