El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency [Kindle Edition]

This is a great book if you want to really find out what is going on today in Mexico. The book is well written and comprehensively covers the situation from grass roots to the top . The great thing is that Mr Grillo conveys the horror of the situation in such a way as not to glamorise the reality of it as so many other writers do when writing about organised crime. Fantastic work I will definitely be on the look out for more work by this Author.

Having become interested in the drug related crime explosion in Mexico after reading Don Winslows "Power of the Dog" I found myself searching through material from books,tv shows and the internet to find more on the subject, I still had not found a book which was a good overview of the subject.

This book is definately that, the first material I have found which clearly covers the whole history of Mexico narcotics problem(both taking and dealing/exporting), the crimnal elements behind them (Early gangsters to the modern day cartels), the response to it from police, army and government to its effect on the whole country.

Its well set out, as easy to read as it is well written and you dont feel you are getting lost in a plethora of names/gangs/government agencys as I have with other books on the subject. Taking the history from the begining makes it easier to follow and it is the best history of how it became like it isfoolowed by an rundown of the current situation that I have read. It also keeps the whole situation in perspective with regards to the rest of the world/its effects on mexico and never seeks to sensationalise the problem for easy goreseeking thrills.

A fascinatinating and worthwhile read that opens your eyes to a problem in a country that is after all partly caused by first world greed for illegal narcotics.

This is the sort of book I have been really keen to read for a long time; an explanation of the history behind these current events is so important. Having the facts laid out in such a clear way, and with a constant reminder that this is a human (and as such universal) story it provides a really good basis for a serious debate.

Such as the one I had with my Uncle, Aunt and cousins during a christmas dinner in London. All participants had an entrenched point of view. While I do not think anyone succeeded in changing the position of the other, I was able to share some history and context with my relatives.

The story told within is a real one, but given the subject matter it reads like a hollywood movie. It is a gratuituous and glamourous world. One that beggars belief and shocks. I was compelled to keep reading at the same time as being repelled by the horrible people and actions described.

For me, the bottom-line is that this story goes beyond drugs and actually reveals how humanity is incapable of embracing multiple points of view, and ways of life. The hypocrisy exposed is sickening. Drug-dealers, bankers, law-enforcers, politicians- the list of power abused with impunity is part of daily life.

Mexico's cartels reflect the market economics that also make Wal-Mart so successful. The added-value lies with the distributor. The manufacturers of the product are exploited as much as possible. The final client is sold as much product as the distributor can get away with. The 'brand-value' is a clever way of selling high for the lowest quality the market will bear.

At the very least, the legalisation of these drugs would deliver transparency across the supply-chain and we can begin to start holding all aspects accountable.

Such is the relevance and power of the story, I finished hoping to read a sequel. Of course, such a progression will be dictated by events. I only hope that everyone touched or interested in this issue, across the globe, can appreciate how we are all connected, and complicit in this state of affairs.

I really hope that any sequel tells the story of solutions. Lasting and peaceful ones.