Bloodlines

The True Story of a Drug Cartel, the FBI, and the Battle for a Horse-Racing Dynasty

By: Melissa del Bosque

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

The riveting and suspenseful account of two young FBI agents in pursuit of a drug cartel's most fearsome leader, Miguel Treviño.

Drugs, money, cartels: This is what FBI rookie Scott Lawson expected when he was sent to the border town of Laredo, but instead he's deskbound, writing intelligence reports about the drug war. Then, one day, Lawson is asked to check out an anonymous tip: A horse was sold at an Oklahoma auction house for a record-topping price, and the buyer was Miguel Treviño, one of the leaders of the Zetas, Mexico's most brutal drug cartel. The source suggests that Treviño was laundering money through American quarter horse racing. If this is true, it offers a rookie like Lawson the perfect opportunity to infiltrate the cartel. Lawson teams up with a more experienced agent, Alma Perez, and, taking on impossible odds, sets out to take down one of the world's most fearsome drug lords.

In Bloodlines, Emmy and National Magazine award-winning journalist Melissa del Bosque follows Lawson and Perez's harrowing attempt to dismantle a cartel leader's American racing dynasty built on extortion and blood money. With extensive access to investigative evidence and in-depth interviews with key players, del Bosque turns more than three years of research and her decades of reporting on Mexico and the border into a gripping narrative about greed and corruption. Bloodlines offers us an unprecedented look at the inner workings of the Zetas and US federal agencies and opens a new vista onto the changing nature of the drug war and its global expansion.

©2017 Melissa del Bosque (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Engaging but confusing mystery

The story was engaging and well-written. It describes in painstaking detail a rather complicated investigation involving multiple people and lots of moving parts. It would have been good if the author had included the dates and years to bring a clearer focus to the story as it moved ahead. My only complaint is that I didn’t care for the narrator’s imitating the voices of each subject in the story. I’d rather she just read it straight. It became annoying.

Great actually history and story

I have been studying and breeding horses and this is such a great book. It has so much fun history and brings all the borderline cartel and history into a very real and fun read/listen. Highly recommend for several reason especially if you love horse breeding and racing. Excellent work

Narrator doesn’t read the story very well

It’s a good Storyline but the narrator reads the book like she’s reading a child at bedtime story doesn’t leave the book very exciting!

Why the fake accents?

For such a riveting story, it was a travesty for the narrator to indulge in absurd theatrics of fake accents - just did not understand why the author would think that audience would need to hear all Mexican American characters in a terrible accent put on by the narrator. The fake Texan drawl was laughable but the fake Mexican accent cringeworthy and offensive. It is high time audio producers realize how racist this practice is.

Good book poor performance

Enjoyed the book itself very much. The narrator, however, has no clue about a Texas,southern, or Mexican accent so her efforts were distracting.

Captures it perfectly

Extremely well-written. Amazing access. I highly recommend this book. Discusses the horrible violence associated and what the Feds are doing to curtail cartels.

Boring, Sporadic, Dull.

I’m a everything ‘Narco’ enthusiast and had high hopes for Bloodlines, but it quickly became a droning-on recap of… as if boring paperwork we’re being read verbatim into my ear. Also, it got confusing trying to keep track of who’s who and even what’s going on. Maybe reading it would be a better experience. In the end, potential squandered.

I love a true story.

Very good story.
It would have been better read by someone Latino(a).
It brings an awareness to the drug trafficking into the US, and the problems and hardships that it causes to the people of Mexico.

Meh-

It might have been a more interesting story, but it went on and on without much excitement. There isn’t much anticipation or surprise. Not a terribly compelling or dynamic story.

Tip of the Iceberg

Fascinating story about the Mexican Drug Cartels attempts to Launder Money via the Quarter Horse Racing Industry.