Wolf Boys: Two American Teenagers and Mexico's Most Dangerous Drug Cartel

I worked for years with juvenile justice in southern California. I learned a lot about the subject of gangs and drugs from the many, mostly Hispanic kids I got to know, such that I got into reading about what's "really going on" down there. It has always blown me away how much the media and our government can focus on conflict and strife on the other side of the planet yet have so very little to say about what goes on in our southern back yard, and how profoundly it affects poor people who can hardly move to somewhere else. Trump and his wall misses the point entirely when it comes to how much drugs are shipped not on peoples' backs sneaking across the desert, but by car and especially trucks to all points in the U.S. from such ports as Laredo and I 35. NAFTA has played a huge role in facilitating this commerce. Mr. Slater does not focus on this as much. Other books do. Rather he pays diligent attention to the nature of some of the people who have been involved. It is so easy to judge and then dismiss this tragedy as bad people getting what they deserve. With amazing journalistic skill Slater portrays people who are variously related to the Narco business, from Laredo to Tamaulipas, with nuance, sophistication and most of all compassion. He clearly illustrates how powerfully real situations can mold people and alter their personalities, instead of rehashing the old American myth that people create their own realities.

This is an incredible look into the lives of impoverished youths that find themselves between a rock and a hard place. They're too poor to have a decent quality of life that brings them hope, and instead of the government helping them out, the way they should, they're cast away and recruited by criminal organizations that prey on these innoncent children with the promise of money and happiness. They turn them into drug addicts, robbers, and in the case of Gabriel, a trained assassin.I grew up with Gabriel in Laredo, TX. I went to school with him. He was easily the smartest kid in our class, but he came from a severely broken home, a devastatingly poor one. When authority figures turned their backs on him, he found "salvation" in crime. It paid well, and he no longer cared about the consequences of murder and drug abuse because of the variety of cruelty he had experienced. Such good potential dashed out and left to rot and turn to corruption.This book will grab you and not let you go; every sentence will bring you closer to the truth about crime and poverty. If we don't care about our poor and abused, they can and will turn to other forms of help that will not only hurt them but others around them.Dan Slater is an excellent writer, and after having the privilege of speaking with him, I know he fully understood what it was he was really writing about. Don't hesitate to pick this great work of non-fiction.

Before purchasing this book I had done some previous hunting for more info on this specific case about the two young boys, Rosalio and Gabriel.. I was completely dumbstruck when I first read the article about these young boys turned professional hit men for the rising cartel group, Los Zetas. I needed to know more. Unfortunately, at the time there was not much information regarding American boys being manipulated into joining this cartel groups. The science behind that is unfathomable. The manipulation of young and innocent boys of, especially, those under privileged, is something that needs to be witnessed today. Now. This tragedy calls for a reconstruction of the Latino culture and education; heavy focus on the expectations of a Latino man.Also, I come from a massive gangster film upbringing. I lived off Goodfellas, The Godfather, Sopranos, etc. There's no denying my always jovial, yet unsettling appreciation for the gore and violence that these stories brought to me starting at the age of 5. Thankfully, I have wonderful parents who don't drink or smoke and showered me with love. Had it not been that, had it been a closer to how Rosalio and Gabriel lived and were brought up, I might have turned up facing life in prison for countless skillfully executed assassinations as they do today.I highly recommend this book! For those of you in the shadows on what's happening to the young boys in the city of Laredo, Texas who face the inner conflict of living the high life of a cartel soldier or struggling the days of an under privileged Latino, who meet very well be shot in as collateral damage after school. I also recommend it to those who revel in the stories of average Joe's climbing up the ranks for a mafia/cartel brotherhood. Guns. Sweat. Trigger. Millions of dollars and the same time watching your back for the DEA.

I bought this book with the expectation that it would be a sociological study about the background of young people who are lured into drug trafficking and, ultimately, murder. Why does an intelligent and charismatic young man take the low road? Poverty and neglect only partially answer the question, which is where the book comes up short.I would have liked more about the life of Detective Garcia and his insights into the young people who choose to become narcos rather than reading all the details about the various cartels and their activities in Mexico.

My father was a narcotics agent in Laredo in the 70's & 80's. We always lived in border towns until moving to San Antonio, then back to the border. Mexican nationals and informants ate at our family dinner table regularly. As an adult, I traveled in Mexico often....eventually my dad made me stop because of the Cartels. I didn't realize the depth of what he knew. This book was beyond amazing. The research the author put into it was so spot on, it was riveting and I never wanted to put it down. The understanding it gave me was phenomenal as well. So well written. Cudos and THANK YOU to Dan.

The book was well written and interesting. All the better for not sensationalising the story. Great piece of investigative writing.

excellent

This is an excellent book about the drugs trade and how it can corrupt young Americans.Very good read

Exceptional read,very well researchedCouldn’t put this book downA page turner!!

Great book!