Tag: The Power of the Dog

The Border by Don Winslow: Confronting the Ghost and the Monster

The BorderThe Border

by Don Winslow

DETAILS:
Series: The Power of the Dog, #3
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: February 26, 2019
Format: Paperback
Length: 716 pgs.
Read Date: June 23-29, 2022
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I can barely scratch the surface of this book—I spent months trying to write something about the previous book in the trilogy, The Cartel, before giving up because I tried to do my typical post with it. This time, I’m going to go pretty surface-level, just to get something written.

What’s The Border About?

Adán Barrera is dead. DEA Agent Art Keller’s personal White Whale is gone, and two things are up in the air: what is Keller going to do with his life/career now? and What will happen to the Drug Trade in Mexico? Barrera may have been an evil man with a trail of bodies in his wake, corrupting government officials on every level, and is responsible for getting countless people on both sides of the border addicted to poisons. But he was a stabilizing influence on the various competing gangs, and without him, chaos ensues.

Meanwhile, a ranking Senator gets Keller appointed as the new head of the DEA. Once there, Keller attempts to change the way the War on Drugs has been fought. As one on the forefront of the “old way,” he knows how poorly it has succeeded. If he’s going to make any kind of impact, he’s going to have to change the way things are done.

But it turns out there’s something uglier and dirtier than the heinous crimes Barrera and his colleagues and rivals are steeped in—U.S. politics. Keller has to battle factions in the DEA and other law enforcement agencies to put his plans into action. He commits to a risky plan that could make a real difference in the war—if he can pull it off.

If he can’t, his career, his freedom, and maybe his life are at stake.

A Financial Education

A key part of Keller’s new strategy is to watch the money—there’s a lot going back and forth across the border, both to buy drugs and then to launder it. But then…it turns out, the cartels wanted more. They couldn’t just sit on the money, no matter how clean it was—there was just too much to leave hanging around. So they invested it, and they wanted something out of those investments.

If Keller can stop the money from going back South, that would be a significant move in the War on Drugs. They’re not going to provide the product if they’re not getting paid for it.

I didn’t go into this book expecting to get a lesson in finance or anything, but I don’t know if I’ve learned as much about that kind of thing since The Bonfire of the Vanities or Liar’s Poker. But the numbers Winslow uses make what those guys were up to seem small.

Supporting Characters that Steal the Show

One thing that Winslow does time and time again throughout this trilogy is to take a character and treat them as a case study for someone in this war on drugs. He’s used hitmen, minor drug dealers, aspiring gangsters, and others. What’s amazing is that he will consistently take someone like this and turn them into a character you really care about while using them to illustrate a reality, and at some point to advance the plot, too. The latter is probably the most impressive part—they’ll spend so much of the book seeming like a digression—a compelling, often moving digression, but a digression—and then he’ll shock you by making them integral to a plot point.

There were two that really stood out to me in this book—most prominently was a ten-year-old Guatemalan boy, forced by his mother to travel to New York (alone) to live with his Aunt and Uncle. The alternative was staying in Guatemala City and being forced to work for the gangs. His journey north is heartbreaking—and what happens to him (and how he reacts) once he crosses the border just guts me.

The other one that will stick with me for a while is a young woman addicted to heroin. Her story is tragic and frequently predictable. That predictability ends up making it even more tragic the further into her story you get.

If nothing else, characters like these two remind you that the Drug War really isn’t about the DEA, the Cartels, the gangs, or anyone else—it’s about the people who get caught up in the middle. The victims. The addicts. The people most of us never see or think about.

So, what did I think about The Border?

This is a daunting read—before you open it up, and it stays that way until the last 150 pages or so.

But it’s a powerful read. A gripping read. A haunting read.

I’ll frequently talk about how a novel feels real, like the kind of thing you’d read in the news. Usually, when I say that, it’s a compliment—like I can’t believe how well the author was at portraying something realistic. But with Winslow, I don’t know that it’s a compliment. He’s done his research—so much of this book is true. So many of these characters are amalgams of several actual people and their crimes. In many cases, I’d wager that he’s toned down the violence, the money, the debauchery, the corruption—just to make it credible. That old line from Mark Twain, “It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense,” comes to mind.

It doesn’t bother me to think that characters like Hannibal Lecter or Ernst Blofeld are running around this world, because they’re so clearly fictional. But Keller’s targets—those south of the border, in the world of finance, and the halls of power in Washington, D.C.? Those are real. Those are frightening.

This is a disquieting book. It’s disturbing. It’s distressing. And it’s supposed to be. Winslow’s trilogy is a monumental achievement. It will entertain you as well as make you reconsider your position on the Drug War.

I can’t say enough about this accomplishment. This trilogy is one of the best things I’ve ever read.


5 Stars

20 Books of Summer

My Favorite Crime/Mystery/Detective/Thriller Fiction of 2019

Once I settled on dividing this chunk of my reading out for its own list, I knew instantly half of the books that’d make it before I even looked at my reading log. After my first cut (which was pretty hard), I had 20+ candidates for the other 5 spots. Whittling those down was difficult, but I’m pretty comfortable with this list. That doesn’t mean the other 90 or so books I read in this family of genres were bad—most were really good and worth the time (sure, a handful should be missed, but let’s forget about them). But these are the crème de la crème.

Not all of these were published in 2019—but my first exposure to them was. As always, I don’t count re-reads, or almost no one could stand up to Stout, early Parker, etc. and my year-end lists would get old fast.

I should say that I was a little worn out by the time I composed a lot of this and ended up borrowing heavily from my original posts. Hope you don’t mind reruns.
(in alphabetical order by author)

Deep Dirty TruthDeep Dirty Truth

by Steph Broadribb

My original post
Lori is kidnapped by the same Mob that wants her dead, giving her basically two choices—do a job for them or else they’re coming for JT and Dakota. Nothing about this book went the way I expected (beginning with the premise), it was all better than that. I had a hard time writing anything about this book that I hadn’t said about the first two in the series. Broadribb’s series about this tough, gritty bounty hunter (who is not close to perfect, but she’s persistent, which is easier to believe) started off strong and remains so.

4 Stars

ThirteenThirteen

by Steve Cavanagh

My original post
One of the best serial killer antagonists I can remember reading. A breakneck pace. An intricately plotted novel. An already beloved protagonist. Genuine surprises, shocking twists, and a couple of outstanding reveals make this fourth Eddie Flynn novel a must-read (even if you haven’t read any previous installments).

5 Stars

Black SummerBlack Summer

by M. W. Craven

My original post
It’s hard to avoid hyperbole in a Best-Of post like this, it’s harder still when talking about this book. But I just did some math, and Black Summer is in the top 1% of everything I read last year—the writing, the plot, the pacing, the tension, the protagonists, the villain(s), the supporting characters are as close to perfect as you’re going to find. The first note I made about this book was, I’m “glad Craven gave us all of zero pages to get comfy before getting all morbid and creepifying.” It’s pretty relentless from there—right up until the last interview, which might elicit a chuckle or two from a reader enjoying watching a brilliant criminal get outsmarted. It’s dark, it’s twisted, and it’s so much fun to read.

5 Stars

An Accidental DeathAn Accidental Death

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

My original post
Grainger’s DC Smith couldn’t be more different than Craven’s DS Poe if he tried, and these two books feel so different that it seems strange to talk about them at the same time. What’s the same? How easily they get the reader invested in their protagonists. How easily they get you plunged into their world and caring about what they care about. Grainger has a nice, subtle style (with even subtler humor) that made this novel sheer pleasure to read (well, listen to, in this case).

4 Stars

Dead InsideDead Inside

by Noelle Holten

My original post
When I was about halfway through this novel, I wrote, “While I’m loving every second of this book, I’m having a hard time shaking the bleak outlook on life and humanity that seems to be part and parcel of this novel…Seriously, read a few pages of this book and see if you’re not willing to replace humanity as the apex predator with something careful and considerate—like rabid pit bulls or crack-smoking hyenas.” This is not an easy read thanks to the characters and circumstances, later I wrote, “This isn’t the cops dealing with a larger-than-life genius serial killer—rather, it’s the everyday reality for too many. Just this time tinged with a spree killer making a grim circumstance worse for some. It’s a gripping read, a clever whodunit, with characters that might be those you meet every day. As an experience, it’s at once satisfying and disturbing—a great combination for a reader. You won’t read much this year that stacks up against Dead Inside and you’ll join me in eagerly awaiting what’s coming next from Holten.” I can’t put it better than that.

5 Stars

Deception CoveDeception Cove

by Owen Laukkanen

My original post
I heard someone describe this as Laukkanen writing fan-fic about his dog Lucy. Which is funny, and pretty much true. From the setup to the execution and all points in between, Deception Cove delivers the goods. Anyone who read just one of his Stevens and Windermere books knows that Laukkanen can write a compelling thriller with great characters. In these pages, he shows that in spades—you take a couple of characters that could easily be cardboard cutouts and instead makes them three-dimensional people with depth, flaws, and a relatability—and throw them into a great thriller. What more could anyone want? A wonderful dog. Guess what? He’s got one of those, too. Leaving the reader wanting little more than a sequel.

4 Stars

HackedHacked

by Duncan MacMaster

My original post
Duncan MacMaster is a new (for me) go-to author if I need someone to break me out of a gloomy mood because of books like this. Clever, well-plotted, and filled with more laughs than some “Humor” books I read this year. It also features what’s probably the best secondary character from 2019. Take out the humor (for the sake of argument here, don’t you dare do that really) and this is still a smartly-plotted and well-executed mystery novel. Adding in the humor makes this a must-read.

4 1/2 Stars

The ChainThe Chain

by Adrian McKinty

My original post
There was enough hype around this that I can see where some of my blogger acquaintances were let down with the reality. But McKinty’s breakout novel absolutely worked for me. The tension is dialed up to 11, the pacing is relentless, the stakes are high enough that the reader should make sure their blood pressure prescriptions are filled. The Chain is as compelling and engrossing as you could want. It’s a near-perfect thriller that doesn’t let up. Winslow calls it “Jaws for parents.” He’s right—I can’t imagine there’s not a parent alive who can read this without worrying about their kids, and reconsidering how closely to track their movements and activities.

4 1/2 Stars

Black MossBlack Moss

by David Nolan

My original post
This is one of those books that the adjective “atmospheric” was invented for. There’s an atmosphere, a mood, an undercurrent running through this book. Hopelessness surrounds the so many of these characters. Wretched also works to describe the feeling. You really don’t notice the time you spend in this book, it swallows your attention whole and you keep reading, practically impervious to distractions. Yes, you feel the harsh and desolate atmosphere, but not in a way that puts you off the book. The mystery part of this book is just what you want—it’s complex, it’ll keep you guessing and there are enough red herrings to trip up most readers. As far as the final reveal goes, it’s fantastic—I didn’t see the whole thing until just a couple of pages before Nolan gave it to us. But afterward you’re only left with the feeling of, “well, of course—what else could it have been?” And then you read the motivation behind the killing—and I don’t remember reading anything that left me as frozen as this did in years. There’s evil and then there’s this. This is a stark, desolate book (in mood, not quality) that easily could’ve been borrowed (or stolen) straight from the news. Nolan’s first novel delivers everything it promises and more.

5 Stars

The Power of the Dog The CartelThe Power of the Dog / The Cartel

by Don Winslow

My original post about The Power of the Dog, The Cartel should be up soon.
There’s simply no way I can talk about one of these without the other, so I won’t. This is a fantastic story about a DEA Agent’s obsessive drive to take down one of the most powerful, deadly and successful Mexican Drug Cartels around, as well as a devastating indictment of the U.S.’s War on Drugs. Despite the scope and intricacy of the plot, these are not difficult reads. Despite the horrors depicted, they’re not overwhelming. In fact, there are moments of happiness and some pretty clever lines. Which is not to say there’s a light-hand, or that he ever treats this as anything but life-and-death seriousness. They’re not easy, breezy reads— but they’re very approachable. I don’t know if there’s a moment that reads as fiction, either—if this was revealed to be non-fiction, I would believe it without difficulty. I will not say that he transcends his genre to be “Literature,” or that he elevates his work or anything—but I can say that Winslow demonstrates the inanity of pushing Crime Fiction into some shadowy corner as not worthy of the attention of “serious” readers.

5 Stars

Books that almost made the list (links to my original posts): Flight of the Fox by Gray Basnight, Who Killed the Fonz? by James Boice, Killer Thriller by Lee Goldberg, Going Dark/Going Rogue by Niel Lancaster (can’t pick between the two), You Die Next by Stephanie Marland, The Killing State by Judith O’Reilly, Dead is Beautiful by Jo Perry, Standing in Another Man’s Grave by Ian Rankin, Paper Son by S. J. Rozan, and How To Kill Friends And Implicate People by Jay Stringer.

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