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The Cartel

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The Cartel

Written by: Don Winslow
Narrated by: Ray Porter
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From the internationally bestselling author of the acclaimed novel The Power of the Dog comes The Cartel, a gripping, ripped-from-the-headlines story of power, corruption, revenge, and justice spanning the past decade of the Mexican-American drug wars.

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 true-to-life story of 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.

©2015 Samburu, Inc. (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Crime Thrillers International Mystery & Crime Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Latin America Mexico Crime Fiction Mafia Thriller War
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What the critics say

“I’m totally swept up. You can’t ask for more emotionally moving entertainment.”

(Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author)

“A first-rate edge-of-your-seat thriller.”

(Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author)

“A gut-punch of a novel. Big, ambitious, violent, and wildly entertaining…an absolute must-read.”

(Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author)

“Sensationally good.”

(Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author)

“This is the War and Peace of dope-war books. Tense, brutal, wildly atmospheric, stunningly plotted, deeply etched.”

(James Ellroy, New York Times bestselling author)

“Overpowering.”

(Time)

“High octane…The righteous indignation that fuels his tale of cops, cartels, and the near-apocalyptic havoc they can create is, to use a sadly appropriate word, addictive.”

(Entertainment Weekly)

“With corruption, violence, and a love story to boot, [The Cartel] is sure to have you grasping at the edge of your seat.”

(Vanity Fair)

“A magnum opus…[Winslow] is to the Mexican drug wars what James Ellroy is to LA noir.”

(New York Times)

“One of the best thriller writers on the planet…Winslow has written an epic, gritty south-of-the-border Godfather for our time.”

(Esquire)

“A sort of Game of Thrones of the Mexican drug wars, a multipart, intricately plotted, blood-soaked epic that tells the story of how America’s unquenchable appetite for illegal drugs has brought chaos to our southern neighbors and darkened our own political and criminal culture.”

(Rolling Stone)

“Here is fiction based on the best journalistic sources, with lively dialogue, timely revelations, and overall the pace and feel of an exploded documentary…A brilliant and informative work of fiction about a nightmare world that flourishes in the bright light of day.”

(NPR)

“A grand and gripping epic novel.”

(Huffington Post)

“A Wagernian epic of murder and vengeance..The Cartel is as much a work of meticulous journalism as artful fiction…[with] skillfully drawn characters.”

(Barnes&Noble.com)

“An adrenaline rush, addictive as crack, and epic…Winslow deals in corruption, subversion, and revenge with an intensity that makes him irresistible.”

(Los Angeles Magazine)

“This exhaustively researched novel elucidates not just the situation in Mexico but the consequences of our own disastrous forty-year ‘war on drugs.’”

(Publishers Weekly (starred review))

“Horrifying in its accuracy, mesmerizing in its sweep and immediacy, brilliantly pace and placed…It’s all made intensely real by Ray Porter’s powerful performance.”

(BookPage (Top Pick in Audiobooks))

“A jarring glimpse into a reality about which many Americans remain blissfully unaware.”

(Library Journal (starred review))

Continue the series

The Border cover art
The Border Written by: Don Winslow
All stars
Most Relevant
Part of a great trilogy. Winslow tells great stories and Ray Porter is my favorite narrator.

Great Don Winslow and Ray Porter

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Story was excellent. The author must have done quite some research when writing this book. The narrator did an excellent job and pronounced the Spanish words very well. Would certainly recommend.

A great and gruesome book of the the Cartel.

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A very good Part 2 to the trilogy of the Mexican tragedy that is the drug cartels. If one is aware through the media of what happened and is happening in Mexico regarding the violence surrounding the drug trade, this book nails it in realism. The violence is unrelenting and graphic. As with other books, Don Winslow has clearly done his research.

The narration by Ray Porter is superb. Enough said.

Great story reflecting reality

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This is a great novel about the drug trade and drug enforcement over the 1980's to the new Millennium. Great characters because you care about their lives. This novel shows the how grey the War on Drugs was and still is. Good guys need to be bad. Bad guys can be good. The American appetite for drugs keeps the money and drugs flowing. Ray Porter is terrific is always. Perfect voice for this Audio Book. The book takes a lot out of you by the time you finish, but it was well worth the time.
#Audible1

Trafficking Drugs: the Power and the Warts

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A worthy sequel to Power of the Dog and narrator Ray Porter makes it come alive. I'm going to read everything Don Winslow has written. Great tragic characters woven together in intricate overlapping plotlines and every character always on the precipice of danger. Never realized how important a good narrator is till I listened to this book. Ray Porter was pitch perfect in conveying multiple characterizations and always kept me on the edge of my seat.

Fantastic and narrator is excellent!

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