The Cartel

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. 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. Evidently -- he couldn't, and he did. For readers of Winslow's Power of the Dog (2005), and especially The Cartel, this is an eerie coincidence.

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). 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.

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. 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. The Cartel's narrative picks up from the Power of the Dog with DEA agent Keller continuing his almost obsessive quest to destroy Adán Barrera and revenge his partner's gruesome death. Of course, with the cartel's inventive brutality involved--what other kind is there?

Cartel goes deeper into the "centrifugal dynamics" of the cartel families, and the fight between the *families* to maintain control of the drugs and therefore the fortunes. The massive amounts of money are mind-blowing (El Chapo was listed by Forbes as one of the most wealthy and most powerful); the levels of corruption, knee-buckling. The pages are soaked with the blood of unimaginable torture, beatings, gang rapes, beheadings -- it's graphically, numbingly violent. (Remember the movie line: "Kill him again!?) But not sensationalized, because Winslow uses the violence to drive across a point, like an eye-opening whiff of ammonia under the nose. USERS: This is where your high comes from; this is what your $$ funds.

Winslow looks at the events and steps into them. He submerges himself and the reader across the border and into the towns; he explains the social and economic structure; he tells the people's story, their genealogy; he gives the town's history; and he narrates the struggles and fights with the cartel. Even the cartel head must deal with the destruction he has caused, one moment wistfully recalling the beauty of a different Mexico, and then sending his wife to America to give birth and get citizenship (another fiction that is true).

The Cartel is fiction based on facts, but it is worth noting, if you are considering this book, that critics have said the following:
--"It is as much a work of meticulous journalism as artful fiction" [Anna Mundow, Barnes and Noble Review]
--"a jarring glimpse into a reality about which many Americans remain blissfully unaware.” [Michael Pucci, Library Journal]
--"a riveting expose of a modern tragedy" Alan Morrison, Sunday Herald
--"Steeped in reportage, the novel. . . possesses a virtue I associate with traditional documentaries: it explains things. I finished the book understanding why Juárez is so violent; why cartels murder so many innocent people; why both the American and Mexican governments favor some cartels over others; and why the war on drugs is not just futile, but morally compromised. It’s here that fiction and documentary come together in a shared sense of, well, bleakness.” John Powers, Fresh Air --- From the professionals, you simply can't find more facts in any one place.

A good book appeals to many people on many levels, and sparks conversation. The Cartel certainly will spark conversation, it's unfortunate the conversation most needed won't take place. Don Winslow has given many interviews with his informed opinions, talking about what he calls the trillion dollar failed drug war, the connection to the drug cartels and ISIS, and finally, and most importantly, his revelations as to whom really is the cartel. "It is high time for us to arise from sleep" Romans 13:11 [The Cartel]

I debated about listening to this book for many months. I do not like gratuitous violence nor do I like "action for the sake of action". This novel is full of violence and action but all of it is contextual to the story and necessary to the true portrayal of the world of the drug trade especially as pertains to the Mexican cartels and the far reaching impact of their influence. I experienced this novel as a multi-faceted experience in exceptional story telling with complex characters and also as an education; an education about the corruption, the violence, the power and far reaching impact of this "war on drugs" which is and has been going on and escalating for four decades or more. There were times when I had to walk away from the listening because the violence is disturbing and I needed to digest the implications of this criminal trade on many levels. Yes, it is a long novel but at no point did I consider ending the listen prematurely. I learned so much and was gripped by the author's ability to present multi-faceted complex characters and relationships. Bottom line, if you are ready to learn about a topic that we live with every day and is smoldering under our lifestyle, do read this. It is very violent and disturbing but thus is the nature of war.

I normally don’t write reviews but this book hit home on many fronts. I was born in Mexico but raised in the U.S. I love Mexico and visit from time to time but the deterioration of the country saddens me. The corruption and drug problem is slowly destroying the country. The amount of detail in the story - from the language, culture, food, the way the police work, corruption, slang, the gangs, Los Zetas, etc, is astounding. The author absolutely did his research. I have the feeling the author lived in Mexico for a while. The story is brutal and violent. I cringed many times listening to the detailed scenes involving torture and murder. It was hard to listen many times. The character development was great as well. I cared for every character.

The great story aside - the narrator was great! Ray Porter is the best and does an amazing job. Every character's voice and nuances are different. I don't know how he does it but he really brings this story to life. Superb!!

Listen to this book, you will not regret it!

This is the second (and final) part of a two volume lifelong saga pitting heavyweight DEA agent Art Keller against his arch enemy Adán Barrera, the drug kingpin mastermind of Mexico's most sinister drug cartel.

Research drives every Don Winslow novel and this time it's a nuanced analysis of the dark cultural, political, and narco history of Mexico. This epic rivals Mario Puzo's, "Godfather" in its ambition and execution.

Ray Porter is spectacular in his ability to create characters (male and female), mood, and sense of place. He has the enormous talent to present a narrative arc in minute detail, yet keep himself out of it. Porter's able to reveal each individual and setting without revealing himself!

"The cartel" is a masterpiece. Pity we are only allowed to award 15 stars.

"...at the end of the day or the end of the world, there are no seperate souls. We will go to heaven or we will go to hell, but we will go together."
- Don Winslow, The Cartel

I went into this thinking I was going to get Tom Clancy+, but actually ended up with a novel closer to Norman Mailer. 'The Cartel', and Don Winslow's previous book on the Mexican drug trade ('The Power of the Dog') are best described as a two-part, fictionalized history of the War on Drugs in Mexico.

I was first drawn to read this by my little brother who was pimping it hard. He mentioned that he heard 'Ben Afflick' couldn't even get in the bid for the rights to this movie. It optioned for $1M with something like a $5M kicker when the movie got made. I think a similar deal got made for 'The Power of the Dog'. Perhaps, Leonardo Di Capro will star. Perhaps the director from Cormac McCarthy's drug cartel movie (yes, the one where Cameron Diaz makes love to a car) may even direct it. Kinda surreal.

Also, it wasn't like I went into this novel not knowing about the drug cartels in Mexico. I live just outside of Phoenix. We used to travel once or twice a year across the border to Rocky Point, but as the Zetas and the violence escalated along the border towns a few years back, our trips decreased. There just seemed to be too much cost for the benefit of sand, 800mg Ibuprofen, and smooth daiquiri . Even still, reading this was like discovering your favorite wound isn't just infected, but hosting a bunch of ugly parasites AND you are largely to blame.

Anyway, it is a total history. Winslow delivers the scope and the horror of the Drug War. He shows the impact on the people, the journalists, the poor. He shows the complicity of the US, the corruption of the Mexican police, the Mexican army, the Mexican politicos. It could easily have devolved into a Zeta snuff film, but Winslow turns it into a powerful piece of historical fiction. It is selling like it is just a thriller, but don't let the flash fool you. There is meat here. There is a body in this burning book. Again, the closest I can get to how reading this feels is Mailer's Harlot's Ghost, Littell's The Company, or Ellroy's The Black Dahlia. This isn't Dostoevsky, but it for sure for sh!t ain't Clancy.

Power of the Dog was as brilliant a novel asTraffic was a movie. So when The Cartel came out the other day I made sure to put everything else on hold and started listening. The Cartel is at least as good as its predecessor, which was truly remarkable. And its read by Ray Porter, perhaps the best narrator in the industry.

The story bigins with Keller, the DEA agent and hero of The Power of the Dog, learning his most hated enemy has just put a 2 million dollar hit out on his life. Adon Bererra, once head of all of the Mexican Cartels until Keller brought him down, is extradited to Mexico after agreeing to testify against his old partners. Its a brilliant move that uses the naieve American authorities' obsessive need for headlines. The rabbit has been thrown into the briar patch.

Suddenly Keller is back chasing the very man he all but destroyed before. What transpires is a brilliant game of strategy with Adon always outmaneuvering both rivals and authorities. Its a brutal and bloody game of cat and mouse. But Keller does not suffer fools, even when he is their subordinate. He watches and waits, every bit the strategist his adversary is.

Buckle your seatbelt for this one!

Don Winslow has inked several of my favorite titles. Here is how I'd rank them...
1-The Winter of Franky Machine
2-Dawn Patrol
3-(tie) Power of the Dog
3- The Cartel
4- Gentlemen's Hour

Honorable Mention- still outstanding in no order
Satori
Savages
Isle of Joy

Loved the book. Awesome detail and connection of all characters to complete an incredible story. Do yourself a favor and get it.

First if you have not read Power of the dog start their! This gives the most realistic look in to the "The war on drugs" !

Loved it! Excellent story. Kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I am definitely a Don Winslow fan now. Graphic,tragic,gripping,telling and sad. Would definitely listen to again.

Fantastic book and narration. I have listened to several books a month for almost 2 years. Cartel and Power of the Dog are 2 of the best. Fantastic narration and amazing writing!