The Border

The Cartel Trilogy, Book 3

By: Don Winslow

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 29 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY Washington Post • NPR • Financial Times • The Guardian • Booklist • New Statesman • Daily Telegraph • Irish Times • Dallas Morning News • Sunday Times • New York Post

“A big, sprawling, ultimately stunning crime tableau.” – Janet Maslin, New York Times

“You can’t ask for more emotionally moving entertainment.” – Stephen King

“One of the best thriller writers on the planet.” – Esquire

The explosive, highly anticipated conclusion to the epic Cartel trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Force

What do you do when there are no borders? When the lines you thought existed simply vanish? How do you plant your feet to make a stand when you no longer know what side you’re on?

The war has come home.

For over forty years, Art Keller has been on the front lines of America’s longest conflict: the War on Drugs. His obsession to defeat the world’s most powerful, wealthy, and lethal kingpin—the godfather of the Sinaloa Cartel, Adán Barrera—has left him bloody and scarred, cost him people he loves, even taken a piece of his soul.

Now Keller is elevated to the highest ranks of the DEA, only to find that in destroying one monster, he has created thirty more that are wreaking even more chaos and suffering in his beloved Mexico. But not just there.

Barrera’s final legacy is the heroin epidemic scourging America. Throwing himself into the gap to stem the deadly flow, Keller finds himself surrounded by enemies—men that want to kill him, politicians that want to destroy him, and worse, the unimaginable—an incoming administration that’s in bed with the very drug traffickers that Keller is trying to bring down.

Art Keller is at war with not only the cartels, but with his own government. And the long fight has taught him more than he ever imagined. Now, he learns the final lesson—there are no borders.

In a story that moves from deserts south of the border to Wall Street, from the slums of Guatemala to the marbled corridors of Washington, DC, Winslow follows a new generation of narcos, the cops that fight them, the street traffickers, the addicts, the politicians, money-launderers, real-estate moguls, and mere children fleeing the violence for the chance of a life in a new country.

A shattering tale of vengeance, violence, corruption, and justice, this last novel in Don Winslow’s magnificent, award-winning, internationally bestselling trilogy is packed with unforgettable, drawn-from-the-headlines scenes. Shocking in its brutality, raw in its humanity, The Border is an unflinching portrait of modern America, a story of—and for—our time.

©2019 Don Winslow (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Excellent story-telling spoiled by partisanship

Winslow is a master story teller and this book, while not quite as good as the first 2 in the series, is very good. But whereas Winslow stuck his toes in paetisan politics in the first 2 stories, in this one he takes a canon ball in the deep end. "Denison" is Trump and all of the criticisms aimed at him by Democratic partisans are repeated word for word in this book - and they are even eggagerated. Furthermore, those against him are almost saintly in their opposition to "fascism." It is not enough to pretend that the other party's leader is Hitler, but he and his family have to be in bed with the leaders of Mexican drug cartels. This is whete Winslow lets down his readers. It is where he spoils a good story.

Huge Disappointment

Good beginning (10% Cartel related) with a deliberate drift into a million unrelated plot lines and characters (90% anti-trump, border caravan, child slavery.)
Hopefully there will be another book that actually follows the Adan Berrera stories.

Great story ruined by Trump Derangement Syndrome

Don Winslow hates the POTUS. His hatred of the president clouded this book. What could have been a great end to one of the best stories I've read has fallen flat because of TDS. This book was drawn out and never gave up an opportunity to slam the current administration.

Disappointed!

Very disappointing end to the first two magnificent books of the trilogy. About half way through it verges off to being a little more than a roman a clef for the author's political opinions (hatred). Very ugly. I listen to books to get away from that crap. Sad, as he is otherwise an excellent writer, but I won't be wasting any more time on him.

Spoiler Alert

This book is an excellent ending to a trilogy that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would rated it 5 starts (like I did the previous 2) had the writer’s apparent hate for Trump not been so evident that I feel it even diminished his writing ability. The hatred dominate the storyline at some points in the book. I felt like this and I am not American, and only follow American politics insofar as it amuses me. I can imagine that if you do not share his hatred of Donald Trump, this book might irritate you

Politics as usual

Let me premise this review by saying that Don Winslow is a gifted and talented author.I was looking forward to the 3rd book in the trilogy very much.I got as far as the 17th chapter before the rampant and rabid attacks on the sitting president of these United States got too much.The irony here is that should Don Winslow live in countries such as China,Russia or Venezuela,countries that the bleeding heart liberals hold up as beacons of light and progressive politics,and written this book there,and criticized the leaders of those countries as he has the president of the US,he would,at best,be locked up, never to be heard of again.It is a crying shame that Winslow,and others of his ilk,have allowed the politics of hate and absurdity to infiltrate their very being to where the accusations have become preposterous and offensive.

A great trilogy diluted

The Power of the Dog and The Cartel, the first two legs of this trilogy were masterfully crafted works of suspenseful fiction by one of the best writers of his time. I eagerly bought this third and final leg of the journey only to be thoroughly disappointed. Yes, Winslow maintains his brilliant character building but inexplicably dilutes the same qualities that are hallmarks of his work.

I have no issue with Winslow’s political viewpoints and find myself in agreement with much of same. What I DO have issue with is buying an eagerly anticipated finish of fiction only to find I could have saved a credit and watched 20 more hours of cable news op-ed’s. Like many, my reading (or listening) to works such as this is purely for pleasure and escapism.

I consider it vital to stay informed and to properly take a stand against injustice in the real world but find myopic obsession with those issues to be unhealthy and definitively unentertaining. In short, when it’s time to relax, I want to relax. Finding a great writer diminishing a great work by weaving his own editorial opinions into a work of fiction, I am greatly put off regardless of how much I may agree with said rhetoric in its proper forum.

A good work of fiction endures the passage of time. Op-ed’s integrally woven into otherwise great fiction do not historically do so.

Political propaganda

Don really intertwined current politics with Keller's story which is really unfortunate. The story started out strong but the emphasize of real criticalisation of the current administrationis hard to overlook. Most readers dive into fictional stories to escape the real world... Whether you agree with current US politics or not, it just doesn't belong in Keller's story which many of us have come to enjoy. Disappointed with this one...

Petty Politics ruins a good stoy

Don Winslow who is a normally excellent author allowed personal politics to ruin a good story. His obvious hatred of Trump corrupted an otherwise fascinating story.

Disappointing sloppy and rushed ending to the trilogy

I really enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy but this third one was a great departure on both style and substance. It felt rushed to capitalize on the current culture and the parallels to today was way too on the nose and felt extremely lazy. This is a unfortunate example of an attempt to gain socal brownie points at the sacrifice of his craft. This was a fairly long book that had many long involved story lines that never really went anywhere and were forced together in the final 15 minutes. Overall it just felt rushed to get out while the Mueller investigation was ongoing. Disappointing and unrecommended.