The Border: A Novel

Art Keller has been staring into the abyss of the drug war for the past forty years. He has viewed the tragic spectacle from every conceivable angle. He has become convinced that the continuing strategy is flawed. The powers that be disagree. Keller has just survived a grisly massacre in Guatemala in which various cartel heads were slaughtered, including his longtime nemesis. Keller plans to go off and live a quiet life when a conservative senator approaches him about taking the top post at the DEA. Now Keller can fight the war his way. The only problem is what he left behind south of the border. There is now a tentative peace between the cartels, but ambition and greed fuel new violence and forays into the exportation of deadlier and more addictive drugs. As the years pass, Keller is making progress on various fronts, but a new administration threatens to undo all Keller’s hard work.

The Border is Don Winslow’s explosive finale to his epic drug-war trilogy. The action and plot move forward at a breakneck pace, taking the reader across North America to Mexico. The danger is omnipresent, the characters are multi-faceted and interesting, and the dialogue is brimming with hardcore humanity. This is historical fiction that should be next to history books on the war on drugs.