First published 2020
Charles Bowden travels deep into the world of El Sicario, the hitman who operates within Mexico's brutal drug cartels. From the murder-plagued streets of Ciudad Juárez to quiet locations like the Falcon International Reservoir where unsolved killings occur, Bowden documents the massive corruption and power hunger that drive these criminal organizations. He weaves together scenes from the biblical battle of Jericho, which he sees not as heroic triumph but as violent conquest driven by greed. Bowden examines why Juárez's staggering murder rate has not crossed into the United States, while drawing connections to his Louisiana childhood and America's own history of racist violence. Through his investigation, he reveals how the appetite for power and wealth has created suffering across cultures and centuries, with fearless voices working to expose those responsible.
Genres: crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, social-commentary
Setting: Ciudad Juárez, Falcon International Reservoir, Louisiana
Period: biblical
192 pages · Hardcover · University of Texas Press
Content warnings: graphic-violence, murder