So I read the sequel before I read the first book. I don't know if that hampered or increased my enjoyment of this book, but I really did like this book. Set in Mexico spanning from 2005 to 2012, we follow DEA agent Arturo Keller as he hunts down Mexican drug cartel boss Adan Barrera. If world building could apply to modern day fiction then the author does an excellent job of bringing the reader into this world of blood drugs and mayhem. Taking events from the newspaper, Winslow shoes the inner workings of drug cartels as well as their impact on an individual social local and global scope. As you read you find your asking what else could happen as discover that you really isn't want to know. While I enjoyed this book, the sheer vastness of the book kills some of the character development as well as the connections you are supposed to be making. Overall it was a great book and now I want to read the first book The Power of the Dog so I can better understand the animosity between the two main characters.