![]() Keller is obsessed with bringing down Adan’s organization, El Federación. The backbone of the narrative is the struggle between Art Keller, the straight-edged DEA agent I mentioned above, and Adan Barrera, the Michael Corleone of the Mexican Cartels. Trying to describe the plot is an unnecessary exercise that I won’t attempt except at the most macro level. It begins in 1975, with a close-in look at the infamous Operation Condor, and ends in 2004, when the War on Drugs has taken on a new, post-9/11 look. It tells a fictional story that is framed by real life events. The Power of a the Dog is a sweeping, 542-page epic of the drug trade. This is a novel where you can see all the moving parts, but it’s constructed so well, that it never matters. ![]() ![]() The dramatis personae is almost a list of archetypes: the hard-charging, straight-edged DEA agent the hard-charging agent's charmless boss and the urbane drug lord who gradually gets his hands dirtier and dirtier. ![]() As I read it, pop culture artifacts as different as Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, and the techno-thrillers of Tom Clancy popped into my head. “But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you, my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.”Įverything about Don Winslow’s The Power of the Dog feels familiar. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |