Industry Reviews
"A propulsive account of the blood-soaked machinery of 'El Narco' ... Examining the trade's gunslinging culture, the motivations behind the continual ramping-up of violence, and some potential solutions to the problem, Grillo argues that America's hard-line rhetoric has failed--and that if a game-changing alternative is not implemented, the Mexican state could also fail. Given the savage chaos Grillo shows us in the country's streets and barrios, his arguments are as perceptive as his high-octane reportage.""--Publishers Weekly" ""El Narco" is riveting, authoritative reporting from the front lines of the Mexican drug wars. What's happening there has explosive potential consequences for every American, and Ioan Grillo's book shows you why."--Dan Rather, Founder and Anchor, HDNet's "Dan Rather Reports." "" "It is hard enough to report the facts of Mexico's crazy death spiral of drug violence. Ioan Grillo goes much, much deeper. He explains why El Narco threatens the soul of this beautiful country. He tells us how we got here.""--"William Booth, bureau chief for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, "Washington Post" "Not since Elaine Shannon's "Desperados" has a book shown us the lawless horrors of the drug war with the kind of gripping human detail that confronts us in "El Narco." Ioan Grillo explores that world as deeply as few journalists have dared, but he also examines it artfully and broadly: he puts the tragedy in a rich historical context that indicts not only Mexican and Latin American politicos b "Effectively [analyzes how] Mexico came to control drug trafficking, how it spreads, and what can be done about it...This excellent work packs the punch of Roberto Saviano's "Gomorrah," an exploration of the Italian Mafia, which also displays the fruits of direct reporting bolstered by intensive interviewing."-"Booklist" (starred review) ""El Narco" is riveting, authoritative reporting from the front lines of the Mexican drug wars. What's happening there has explosive potential consequences for every American, and Ioan Grillo's book shows you why."--Dan Rather, Founder and Anchor, HDNet's "Dan Rather Reports." "" "It is hard enough to report the facts of Mexico's crazy death spiral of drug violence. Ioan Grillo goes much, much deeper. He explains why El Narco threatens the soul of this beautiful country. He tells us how we got here.""--"William Booth, bureau chief for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, "Washington Post" "Not since Elaine Shannon's "Desperados" has a book shown "Graphic and fast-paced history""--Mother Jones """ "Effectively [analyzes how] Mexico came to control drug trafficking, how it spreads, and what can be done about it...This excellent work packs the punch of Roberto Saviano's "Gomorrah", an exploration of the Italian Mafia, which also displays the fruits of direct reporting bolstered by intensive interviewing."-"Booklist" (starred review) ""El Narco" is riveting, authoritative reporting from the front lines of the Mexican drug wars. What's happening there has explosive potential consequences for every American, and Ioan Grillo's book shows you why."--Dan Rather, Founder and Anchor, HDNet's "Dan Rather Reports". "" "It is hard enough to report the facts of Mexico's crazy death spiral of drug violence. Ioan Grillo goes much, much deeper. He explains why El Narco threatens the soul of this beautiful country. He tells us how we got here.""--"William Booth, bureau chief for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, "Washington Post" "Not "Grillo's book is terrific--full of vivid front-line reporting; diverse interviews; a sense of history; a touch of social science; clarifying statistics; and realistic reviews of what might be done to improve things, none of it easy. It is essential reading.""--"Steve Coll, NewYorker.com "Grillo takes advantage of his sources to provide insight on the drug war from nearly every angle, from the American government's longstanding attempts to stifle trafficking there to the national history that underpins much of the current narco culture... The book is a useful corrective to the common American idea that Mexico is just one big homogenous bloodbath south of Texas. ... filled with the sort of unforgettable details to which only a reporter who has been on this beat for years would be privy.""--Boston Globe " "Graphic and fast-paced history""--Mother Jones """ ""El Narco" achieves something unattempted in the English-language reporting on the Mexican drug war: it lays out in clear terms the contours of a world that has existed for years and only grown more barbaric as it's graduated to "war" status. Since that world is right next door, it's high time that English-language readers are able to learn just what makes it tick.""--Bookforum" "The strength of "El Narco" lies in its shoe-leather reporting; Grillo interviews everyone from a former cartel assassin to DEA agents to grieving families, snitches, pot and poppy farmers, illegal immigrants and gangbangers. He's the sort of journalist who'll pop into a plastic surgery clinic or taqueria if it turns up on a list of cartel-linked businesses, just to see what he can see. Writers this knowledgeable about the subject and with no particular ax to grind are rare.""--"Salon "Ioan Grillo delivers the first authoritative and comprehensive examination of the unprecedented mafia violence that has taken so many lives, shaken the Mexican state and spooked the Americans...this is the book to read to understand the homicidal madness just
