“Capitalism demands that desire be our church. There needs to be someone on top and the rest need to be ice skating up that hill. Maybe some of us will even make it up there only to find another hill — another thing we’ll need.”
“In The Cartel, Don Winslow’s masterfully crafted follow-up to The Power of the Dog, we’re provided with a stark window into the effects of extreme human desire.”
“Americans consume an immense amount of narcotics, and Winslow wisely focuses on how that consumption has created the state of affairs down in Mexico. There are few plot beats in The Cartel that aren’t rooted in reality. This demand from the north has driven an entire country to the brink and has made powerful men of some of the most wretched examples of humanity. The drug cartels may be monstrous, but often the impetus for their bloody acts can be traced back to the American marketplace. Those drugs have to go somewhere and have to be desired by someone. It’s no coincidence the bulk of it heads north or that the industry pushing the product onto the streets also drives the industry built to stop it.”