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A review by thisotherbookaccount
The Border by Don Winslow
4.0
The Cartel by Don Winslow, one of my favourite books from last year, felt like an end for the story between Art Keller and Adan Barrera. However, for Keller, our protagonist, it felt like it was only the beginning of something bigger — and that's basically what The Border is.
The Border, the final part of Winslow's Power of the Dog trilogy, is essentially the final act of Keller — now without Barrera as his sworn enemy. With the head of the Sinaloan cartel taken out, Mexico is in a state of great flux, with a number of opportunities vying to become the new leader. The death of Barrera does not end the drugs flowing into the US either, with the trade somehow flourishing and finding its way into the upper echelons of the government. The Drug War is alive and well on both sides of the border, and Keller, like always, is caught in the middle.
I think The Border is a fitting end to Art Keller as a character. This is the conclusion that his character deserves, considering the action, the scope and the narrative threads that have been introduced thus far. Winslow shifts part of the focus this time to corruption within the US government, as well as the ties that certain individuals have with the cartels down south. After all, when there's money to be made, morality takes the passenger seat in many cases. And just because Keller's personal vendetta against Barrera is over, that doesn't mean that he's won the war just yet.
And I suppose that's part of the weak link for The Border. While it is still a plot driven freight train, there are multiple train tracks this time that don't always lead anywhere. In Mexico, we used to have villains that we love to hate, like Adan Barrera himself and the murderous Zetas in the first two books of the series. This time, we have multiple small-time players, consisting mostly of former cartel leaders and their respective children. Dividing the attention among multiple parties aside, none of them seem to rise up to the level of villainy that Barrera and the Zetas had in the previous books. As a result you do lose a bit of that tension.
I also feel like Winslow introduced way too many characters that weren't exactly ancillary to the main narrative. I understand his desire to tell stories on the ground, about how the drug trade is impacting real people, like addicts and police officers forced to go undercover. However, despite the efforts, they just feel so far removed from the tension between the corrupted government officials and the cartels that Keller is trying to fight. It doesn't help that the last 100 pages or so does lose a bit of steam, since it is mainly focused on the part of the narrative that I did care less about. There's even a 30-page stretch with Keller recounting the ENTIRE trilogy in court, plot point by plot point. And while that might be necessary for those that have forgotten the details of the previous books, it does dampen the forward momentum that he's built up along the way.
Still, The Border, as a conclusion to a trilogy, feels right. It isn't pack quite as many shocking moments or narrative tension as before, but it is still a worth entry to the series. If only we could have had a better cast of villains and a more economical approach to storylines.
The Border, the final part of Winslow's Power of the Dog trilogy, is essentially the final act of Keller — now without Barrera as his sworn enemy. With the head of the Sinaloan cartel taken out, Mexico is in a state of great flux, with a number of opportunities vying to become the new leader. The death of Barrera does not end the drugs flowing into the US either, with the trade somehow flourishing and finding its way into the upper echelons of the government. The Drug War is alive and well on both sides of the border, and Keller, like always, is caught in the middle.
I think The Border is a fitting end to Art Keller as a character. This is the conclusion that his character deserves, considering the action, the scope and the narrative threads that have been introduced thus far. Winslow shifts part of the focus this time to corruption within the US government, as well as the ties that certain individuals have with the cartels down south. After all, when there's money to be made, morality takes the passenger seat in many cases. And just because Keller's personal vendetta against Barrera is over, that doesn't mean that he's won the war just yet.
And I suppose that's part of the weak link for The Border. While it is still a plot driven freight train, there are multiple train tracks this time that don't always lead anywhere. In Mexico, we used to have villains that we love to hate, like Adan Barrera himself and the murderous Zetas in the first two books of the series. This time, we have multiple small-time players, consisting mostly of former cartel leaders and their respective children. Dividing the attention among multiple parties aside, none of them seem to rise up to the level of villainy that Barrera and the Zetas had in the previous books. As a result you do lose a bit of that tension.
I also feel like Winslow introduced way too many characters that weren't exactly ancillary to the main narrative. I understand his desire to tell stories on the ground, about how the drug trade is impacting real people, like addicts and police officers forced to go undercover. However, despite the efforts, they just feel so far removed from the tension between the corrupted government officials and the cartels that Keller is trying to fight. It doesn't help that the last 100 pages or so does lose a bit of steam, since it is mainly focused on the part of the narrative that I did care less about. There's even a 30-page stretch with Keller recounting the ENTIRE trilogy in court, plot point by plot point. And while that might be necessary for those that have forgotten the details of the previous books, it does dampen the forward momentum that he's built up along the way.
Still, The Border, as a conclusion to a trilogy, feels right. It isn't pack quite as many shocking moments or narrative tension as before, but it is still a worth entry to the series. If only we could have had a better cast of villains and a more economical approach to storylines.