The Cartel – The Cartel Trilogy #2

Author: Don Winslow
Genre: Crime Fiction
620 pages
Publisher: Vintage Books, 2015

Synopsis
It’s 2004. DEA agent Art Keller has been fighting the war on drugs for thirty years in a blood feud against Adán Barrera, the head of El Federación, the world’s most powerful cartel, and the man who brutally murdered Keller’s partner. Finally putting Barrera away cost Keller dearly—the woman he loves, the beliefs he cherishes, the life he wants to lead.

Then Barrera gets out, determined to rebuild the empire that Keller shattered. Unwilling to live in a world with Barrera in it, Keller goes on a ten-year odyssey to take him down. His obsession with justice—or is it revenge?—becomes a ruthless struggle that stretches from the cities, mountains, and deserts of Mexico to Washington’s corridors of power to the streets of Berlin and Barcelona.

Keller fights his personal battle against the devastated backdrop of Mexico’s drug war, a conflict of unprecedented scale and viciousness, as cartels vie for power and he comes to the final reckoning with Barrera—and himself—that he always knew must happen.

The Cartel is a story of revenge, honor, and sacrifice, as one man tries to face down the devil without losing his soul. It is the story of the war on drugs and the men—and women—who wage it.

My review
The Cartel by Don Winslow is extraordinary! Winslow’s sustained effort of imagination, research, and outstanding writing skills is unparalleled in crime fiction. While undeniably a crime thriller, The Cartel transcends the genre to offer a thought-provoking and harrowing exploration of the War on Drugs. Using fiction as his tool, Winslow masterfully conveys the profound impact of the War on Drugs, highlighting how poverty and one’s circumstances can devastate individuals, and the soul-crushing burden it places on everyone involved. This brilliant story will stay with me for a long time.

The Cartel is absolutely not light reading, both in terms of theme and actual content. At well over 600 pages, it is a very horrific narrative with cover-to-cover darkness, violence, death, and obsession. The pacing is relentless and Winslow’s short sentences and paragraphs keep the pace moving at breakneck speed. The main protagonist, DEA agent Art Keller, is a morally ambiguous character torn between his commitment to fighting the War on Drugs and his obsession with taking down a powerful cartel leader, Adán Barrera. In his relentless pursuit of justice, Keller must adopt the very methods he despises even at great personal cost to himself and those he loves.

The Cartel is one of the most intelligent novels I’ve read in a long time. The story is complex, incredibly detailed and intricate, and completely engrossing! Winslow created a scathing and heartbreaking commentary on corruption, brutal violence, greed, and obsession with a stark realism that only he can deliver. I’m excited to read the final book in the trilogy, The Border.

My recommendation: read it!