''The Power of the Dog'' is a 2005 crime/thriller novel by American writer

Don Winslow Don Winslow (born October 31, 1953) is an American political activist and retired author best known for his crime novels including ''Savages (novel), Savages'', ''The Force'' and the Cartel Trilogy. Early life Winslow was born on Staten Isl ...

, based on the

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domes ...

's involvement with the War on Drugs. The book was published after six years of writing and research by the author.

Plot summary

Winslow's novel describes three decades of the United States' war on drugs by following several main characters: The DEA agent Art Keller; Adán Barrera, who controls large parts of the drug trade from Mexico to the United States of America; the sex worker Nora Hayden; and Sean Callan, a gangster from the streets of New York. Agent Keller becomes obsessed with the Barrera family after they torture and kill a DEA agent in Mexico. Trying to avenge his colleague, Keller discovers massive involvement of the US and the Mexican governments in drug trade operations. The CIA prevents him from taking revenge on the drug cartels to combat left-wing activists in Latin America. Winslow's novel exposes the brutality of the war of drugs with graphic scenes of torture and massacres. It also navigates through the inner workings of the drug trade and how different organizations collaborate to achieve their respective goals, from the Mexican drug cartels to the Vatican.

Characters

* Arthur "Art" "Arturo" Keller: DEA agent, participant in the Operation Condor, obsessed with hunting down the Barreras, and other people responsible for killing his friend. Husband to Althea. Father of two children. * Adán Barrera: Nephew of Don Miguel Angel Barrera, brother of Raúl. Drug trafficker. Nicknamed Lord of the Skies. Based on

Benjamín Arellano Félix Benjamín Arellano Félix (born 12 March 1952) is a Mexican former drug lord who alongside his brothers founded and led the Tijuana Cartel or "Arellano-Félix Organization” until his arrest in March 2002. Biography Benjamín Arellano Fél ...

, although

Amado Carrillo Fuentes Amado Carrillo Fuentes (; December 17, 1954 – July 5, 1997) was a Mexican drug lord. He seized control of the Juárez Cartel after assassinating his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. Amado Carrillo became known as "''El Señor de Los Cielos''" ( ...

is "The Lord of the Skies." Barrera is also partly based on Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. * Nora Hayden: Sex worker. Friend of Juan Parada. In love with Sean. Professional lover of Adán and Jimmy Piccone. * Sean Callan: Irish mobster and hitman for the Italian mafia. * Don Miguel Angel "Tío" Barrera: El Patrón, head of the drug trafficking organization. Uncle of Adán and Raúl. Based on

Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his aliases ''El Jefe de Jefes'' ('The Boss of Bosses') and ''El Padrino'' ('The Godfather'), is a convicted Mexican drug kingpin who was one of the founders of the ...

. * Juan Ocampo Parada: Cardinal, priest of the Barrera family. Nora's friend. Based on Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo. * Güero Méndez: Drug trafficker, first an ally, then an enemy of the Barrera family. Husband of Pilar and father of her children. Based on Héctor "Güero" Palma Salazar. * Sal Scachi: Former Colonel of the United States Army, now member of the Cimino crime family. * Jimmy Picone: Member of the Cimino crime family, acquaintance of Sean Callan and Sal Scachi. * Fabián "El Tiburon" Martinez: Main hitman of Raúl Barrera. Based on

David Barron Corona David Barron Corona, (1963 – November 27, 1997) was a Mexican-American gangster who was a high-ranking member of the Logan Heights Gang and the Mexican Mafia, and a hitman for the Tijuana Cartel under the command of drug lord Ramon Arellano Fe ...

. * Raúl Barrera: Younger brother of Adán, co-leader of the Barrera cartel. Based on

Ramón Arellano Félix Ramón Eduardo Arellano Félix (August 31, 1964 – February 10, 2002) was a Mexican drug lord who alongside his brothers founded and led the Tijuana Cartel (a.k.a. the Arellano-Félix Organization). He was the leader of the enforcement wing o ...

. * Gloria Barrera: Daughter of Adán and Lucia. * O-Bop: Friend of Sean Callan, Irish mobster. * Antonio Ramos: Friend of Arthur, member of the Mexican Police. * Ernie Hidalgo: Friend of Art Keller, member of the DEA. Based on Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. * Cimino crime family: Based on the

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

Reception

According to

Book Marks ''Literary Hub'' or ''LitHub'' is a daily literary website that was launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and '' Electric Literatur ...

, the book received a "rave" consensus, based on six critic reviews: four "rave" and two "positive".

Allusions to actual history, geography and current science

''The Power of the Dog'' starts in 1975 and follows the

's War on Drugs and various aspects of

Operation Condor Operation Condor (; ) was a campaign of political repression by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America, involving intelligence operations, coups, and assassinations of left-wing sympathizers in South America which fo ...

, with the

CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking A number of writers have alleged that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in the Nicaraguan Contras' cocaine trafficking operations during the 1980s Nicaraguan civil war in efforts to finance the Contra group that ...

being central to the book's plot. It also includes the

1985 Mexico City earthquake The 1985 Mexico City earthquake struck in the early morning of 19 September at 07:17:50 (CST) with a Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 8.0 and a maximal Modified Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). The ev ...

and its far-reaching consequences for Mexico, and portrays the Mexican presidential candidate

Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) President of Mexico, presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tiju ...

's murder in

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

on March 23, 1994. Aspects and some of the resolutions of the

Cristero War The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticler ...

are also mentioned.

Film adaptation

In 2015,

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

paid $6 million for the film rights to both ''The Power of the Dog'' and its sequel, ''The Cartel'', with

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

producing.

Sequel

In 2015, the first sequel ''The Cartel'', was published. It follows Keller from 2004 to 2014 as he continues to track down Barrera after he escapes from prison. In 2019, the final book in the three-part series, ''The Border,'' was published. It follows Keller as head of the DEA.

References

External links

Don Winslow's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Power Of The Dog, The 2005 American novels American thriller novels Novels about organized crime Alfred A. Knopf books Novels set in Mexico Novels by Don Winslow Works about Mexican drug cartels Mystery novels set in Mexico