Agreed! It is also interesting to try to match the characters to the real life drug lords that inspired them by the crimes and strategies detailed in the book, though it can get confusing since Winslow often merges two real drug lords into a single character or branches out a single drug lord into two or more characters.

For example, Adán Barrera—the main antagonist in The Cartel—is based on one of the Arellano Felix brothers in The Power of the Dog, but then takes on Chapo Guzman's persona in The Cartel.

But when you realize that a lot of what Winslow describes actually happened in real life it puts a lot of things into perspective—especially the US's involvement on both sides of the coin.