Drug lord Miguel Angel Barrera is head of the Mexican drug federación, responsible for millions of dollars worth of cocaine traffic into the US and the torture and murder of those who stand in its way. His nephew, Adan Barrera, is his worthy successor. Art Keller is a US government operative, so determined to obtain revenge for a murdered colleague that his pursuit of the cartel veers dangerously towards an obsession outside the law.

In a brutal world filled with striking characters, from a high class prostitute to an Irish hitman and a charismatic Catholic priest, everyone is in search of some kind of salvation - or damnation... Don Winslow's masterpiece is not only a page-turning thriller but also a rich and compelling novel in the league of James Ellroy or Don DeLillo.