Literature / The Cartel

"Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it."

The Cartel is the 2015 novel and direct sequel to The Power of The Dog. About a decade after the first novel: Arthur 'Art' Keller has retired from the DEA and Adan Barrera is in a US prison. Barrera, using his connections and brainpower, escapes custody. This brings the retired Keller back into the fight.

The novel allows focuses on Eddie Ruiz, a small-time dealer who is thrown into a bigger conflict, Jesus 'Chuy' Barajos, a kid who became a soldier for the fearsome Los Zetas at age 11 and Pablo Maro a reporter from Juarez.

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Tropes associated with the novel.

• Action Duo: Gerardo Vera and Luis Aguilar. Two members of the Mexican SEIDO who work directly with Keller. Vera even tells the media to call them Batman and Robin.
• Affably Evil: Adan Barrera. Acts like a businessman and is polite to women. But has no problem ordering the murders of rivals and innocents alike,
• Age-Gap Romance: Adan Barrera who is 50 marries Eva Esparza when she is 18.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Averted to high hell, all the villains have done so much damage that when they get there commence, it's nothing short of cathartic.
• All for Nothing: A lot of things done in the novel pan out to be this. Corruption and the drug trade survive Barrera's reign. Chuy is broken. Eddie still goes to jail. Pablo's exposure of the cartel leads to his murder.
• Ambition Is Evil: A major theme of the story: any character who wants too much will end up punished.
• Amoral Attorney: Ben 'Minimum Ben' Tompkins, who is notorious for getting his client's the lightest sentences.
• Antagonist Title: The Cartel are the main antagonists of the novel.
• Anti-Hero: Art Keller. He may be on the right side of the law but he is not above playing dirty to get Barrera. Such as when he tortured a drug dealer for information by injecting him with cocaine.
• Anyone Can Die: As with the novel's dark tone, most named characters are dead by the end. The list includes, Barrera, Magda, Diego Tapia, Pablo, Nacho, Jinema and Giogrio.
• Badass Army: Los Zetas are the militarized wing of the Gulf Cartel made up of ex-Special Forces that become their own cartel. The Mexican FES count as well, being a special forces unit and the only group to successfully combat the Zetas.
• Badass Boast: Chuy dumps five heads from members of Los Zetas onto a club floor, following it with a threat to kill more.
• Badges and Dog Tags: Keller was in the CIA before he was DEA. Numerous members of the Mexican police forces were in the military before. The Zetas started out as veterans of the special forces.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted, when a beautiful woman is killed, the result is not pretty. Subverted with Marisol Cisneros, she believes she has become ugly but Keller sees past it.
• Being Good Sucks: Keller tries. But more often than not, it costs more than it's worth. Once he goes with the FES and becomes amoral, he gets results quicker.
• Being Evil Sucks: Sure being in the cartel will get you wealth and respect but at the cost of death and betrayals.
• Best Friends-in-Law: Adan Barrera's mentor and close friend, Nacho Esparza becomes Adan's father in law when he marries his youngest daughter Eva.
• Berserk Button: Don't try to change Art Keller's mind about Adan Barrera, the man who helped kill his partner and exeucted numerous civilians.
• Better the Devil You Know: Tim Taylor makes a deal to work with Adan Barrera because the DEA can trust Barrera over the Zetas because of Keller. He is least than pleased when he hears about it.
• Big Bad: Adan Barrera, the head of the Sinaloa Cartel.
• Bittersweet Ending: Keller has finally killed Barrera after a 30-year blood feud. Los Zetas has lost its leadership but so many people have died and so much damage has been done that it hardly feels worth it.
• Boom, Headshot!: Numerous characters go out this way. Including Adan Barrera.
• Body Double: During the first raid against Barrera: Art shoots one thinking it was him.
• Bodyguard Betrayal: Chuy was working security when he goes rogue in the climax.
• Boom, Headshot!: Getting shot in the head is a commonality.
• Break the Cutie: Marisol Cisneros, an idealistic doctor who wants to help people during the cartel war is slowly broken. After getting shot and the deaths of her friend Jimena Abarca and surrogate daughter Erika Valles, she almost completely breaks.
• Breaking Out the Boss: Nacho and Diego plan to break out Barrera after the Christmas party.
• Briefcase Full of Money: Yvette Tapia's way of transporting money.
• Bring It Back Alive: If Los Zetas wants to torture someone, they are brought back alive.
• By-the-Book Cop: Luis Aguliar in the beginning when he is the 'good cop' to Vera's bad cop. He believes in the law above all, even calling Keller out on his shit. While Keller is skeptical of both of them, ulitamtely, Aguliar wins him over. But when Aguliar plays dirty, it gets him killed.
• Call-Back: There are numerous references to events from The Power of The Dog.
• Car Fu: Sicarios try to shoot Keller while driving, afterward they try to run him off the road.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Richard Jimenez. He is introduced in the first few pages and isn't brought up until near the end to help find Keller a suspect. His death escalates the DEA involvement.
• Chess Motifs: There are numerous chess references with Keller and Barrera trying to put each other in checkmate.
• Child Soldiers: Chuy is 11 when he starts working for Los Zetas.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: A favorite of Los Zetas. For example, Eddie Ruiz's friend was burned with a shirt and his skin peeled.
• Cool Old Guy: Don Pedro Alejo de Castillo. A wealthy ranch owner who killed six members of the Zetas BY HIMSELF! Mind you, The Zetas are made of ex-special forces.
• Cop Killer: Members of the cartel will kill cops working for the other cartels. Cops will kill cops working for other cartels.
• Corpse Land: Mexico as a whole. Numerous massive shootouts happen. By the end of the novel, the body count is in the thousands. Mass graves are regularly discovered.
• Cowboy Cop: Gerardo Vera. Art Keller slowly becomes this.
• Crapsack World: Mexico. Especially Juarez, a city torn apart by the cartel war.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Los Zetas are a fan of decapitation, disembowelment, dismemberment and lighting people on fire.
• Crusading Lawyer: Luis Aguliar who works as a prosecutor. He believes in fighting the good fight above the board, at first.
• Cult: La Familia Michoacana is considered this due to their religious nature.
• Da Editor: Oscar Herrera, the head of a local Juarez newspaper. Many of the reporters look up to him.
• Dead Partner: Ernie Hildago's murder from The Power of The Dog still haunts Keller.
• Deep Cover Agent: DEA has undercovers throughout Mexico.
• Depraved Homosexual: According to Eddie Ruiz, Ochoa, the leader of the Zetas with a love of torture.
• Descent into Addiction: Diego hits cocaine hard after his brother: Alberto's death.
• Despair Event Horizon: After Marisol is almost killed, Art snaps back into action.
• Despite the Plan: Despite making a deal with Barrera, Art still kills him.
• Detective Mole: Gerardo Vera, while he maybe fighting the cartels, he is fighting on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel.
• Did You Actually Believe...?: Art would just let Adan go after all that happened between them?
• Dirty Cop: A significant portion of the Mexican police are, notably Gerardo Vera. As well as La Linea, a group of cops paid off by the Juarez cartel to act as enforcement.
• Dirty Old Man: A commonality with the cartel bosses. Subverted with Adan Barrera who while in his 50s, is very polite and respectful to women.
• Disappointed in You: Adan gives this speech when Salvador kills two innocent people.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Los Zetas are a fan of this.
• Disposable Sex Worker: Los Zetas see prostitutes as this. When they kill Flor, Chuy's woman. He disagrees...
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Keller, Marisol, Eddie and Chuy have gone through a lot of shit to say they got a happy ending.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Eddie Ruiz hates being called Crazy Eddie, at first. He leans into it as well as Narco-Polo.
• Enemy Civil War: Could be called Enemy Civil War the novel. From Tapias Vs. Barreras, Gulf Cartel vs Los Zetas, to Juarez vs Sinaloa etc.
• Enemy Mine: Ochoa tries to pull this on Keller with Barrera. Adan then tries this on Keller against the Zetas. Neither works out.
• Enfant Terrible: Chuy, his only 11 when he starts killing for the Zetas cartel.
• Entitled Bastard: Salvador Barrea, Adan's nephew who believed he deserves women and respect despite not earning it.
• Escalating War: The Juarez Cartel vs Sinaloa Cartel. It turns Juarez into a war-zone.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Adan betrays lifelong friend Diego to save his nephew.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The Tapia brothers do all love each other, despite two of them leading a cartel. Adan loves his nephew, Salvador, enough to sell out Diego Tapia.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Eddie Ruiz may be a murderer and a drug dealer but never women or children.
• Everyone Has Standards: Everyone is appalled when Los Zetas murders an innocent family.
• Evil Is Cool: Played with. The cartels are shown to throw great parties and have a lot of respect. But there is so much violence that occurs makes it Being Evil Sucks.
• Evil Is Petty: A trade of insults almost leads to a shootout before an important meeting even takes place.
• Finger Gun: Pablo gets this when threatened to say that the Sinaloan cartel murdered 15 party goers.
• From Bad to Worse: The whole novels goes from a simple manhunt to a deep investigation of corruption into a war story.
• Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Marisol and Art have this once she's recovered from her shooting.
• Glass Weapon: Chuy breaks a bottle and slices his best friend Gabe's neck to flee Los Zetas.
• Gold Digger: Averted by Madga. While she relied on Adan in prison for protection, She has her own money and power.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Aguliar will always play the good cop with Keller or Vera being the bad cop.
• Grenade Launcher: The cartels have a few to use. Chuy uses one to shoot out Art's helicopter, albeit thinking it's another cartel.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: A lot of members of the cartel have it. Early in the novel, a shootout almost happened over light jabs. The biggest offender is probably Sal Barrera, who killed two citizens when the girl refused to go to the VIP room of a club with him.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Pablo is dismembered and placed around a statue.
• Hallway Fight: The raid on Diego Tapia has a shootout in the middle of the hallway.
• High-School Hustler: Eddie Ruiz was one, selling drugs while he was still in high school.
• If It Bleeds, It Leads: How the newspaper views the Juarez war.
• I Have a Family: An excuse to prevent a murder that never works.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Chuy wants this after all he went through. The epliogue states he is going to therapy but is still haunted by his past.
• I Kiss Your Hand: Ana jokes about a man not kissing her hand, Pablo obliges.
• I'll Kill You!: When Tim Taylor makes a deal with Barrera, Keller responds with this.
• Inevitable Mutual Betrayal: When Barrera and Ochoa meet in Guatemala, they both have plans to wipe out the other.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Keller ejects a dealer who sold drugs for the Zetas with pure cocaine.
• Jammed Seat Belts: Almost gets Keller killed when Sicarios shoot at him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Eddie Ruiz. He may be a violent murderer and drug kingpin, but never to women or children.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: After the death of his brother Alberto, Diego starts doing drugs and goes crazy.
• Karmic Death: Ochoa, a fan of burning people alive and torture is shot then burned alive. Forty gets his face cut off then sown to a soccer ball, WHILE HE IS ALIVE!
• Killed Offscreen: Pablo and Erika. Its for the better considering they are found in pieces.
• Killer Cop: Police officers do hits for the cartels.
• Kubrick Stare: Chuy has one everyone once in a while, mainly when he lost in the horrors he committed.
• Lady Macbeth: Madga plays this to Adan. Shes the one who told him to crash the plane Luis Aguilar was in.
• Large and in Charge: Gordo Contreras is a large man who becomes to head of the Gulf Cartel. But many view him as a figure head than a legitimate leader.
• Manipulative Bastard: Adan Barrera. He constantly betrays and murders others for his own gain. Just ask Diego
• Marked to Die: Keller is marked by Barrera at the start of the novel with a 2 million dollar bounty. Eddie, Chuy and Pablo all become targets due to their actions against the Zetas. Pablo is the only one to be killed.
• Named Weapons: Chuy calls his AR-15, erre.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Some, if not all, of the drug lords in the story have real life counterparts.
  • Don Pedro Alejo de Castillo and his story is loosely based on Alejo Garza Tamez
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Keller gives a lot of information to Vera, a corrupt cop which gets many people killed.
• No Kill Like Over Kill: A lot of deaths are extremely brutal. From a whole family being murdered, to a grenade being thrown into a club. Nevermind the numerous decapitations and deaths from torture that occur.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: Washington gives Tim Taylor and Art Keller a lot of flack with what they are doing.
  • When Taylor and Keller bring Los Zetas to the heads of Washington, they don't care until after Keller set up a sting showing Los Zetas is selling guns to Islamic Extremist. They still don't do anything, officially.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Keller goes to extreme measures to take down Los Zetas and Barrera. Even pitting the cartels against each other to weaken themselves.
• Police Are Useless: State police are usually working for the cartels.
• Pregnant Hostage: Madga is pregnant with Barrera's child when she is kidnapped by the Zetas. It doesn't save her.
• Private Military Contractors: A group approach Keller to help them kill the Los Zetas leadership unofficially for Washington.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "A psalm: 'Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin'", Art to Adan before shooting him.
• Public Exposure: Wild Child blogs about the murders and taking down Los Zetas. It's actually Pablo.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Only Los Zetas goes so low as to rape.
• Rape Leads to Insanity: Chuy was raped in Juvie, leading to his path of darkness.
• Reality Is Unrealistic: A lot of the events in the novel are based on real life events.
• Recognizable by Sound: How Keller discovers Vera is dirty. A record taken by Yvette Tapia incrimates Vera is working with Sinaloa cartel.
• Recruiting the Criminal: Keller asks Eddie Ruiz, a known drug kingpin, if he wants to go on the final raid against the Zetas. He accepts.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
  • Eddie Ruiz kills Zetas after they burned his best friend alive.
  • Chuy kills Zetas after they rape and murder his woman.
  • FES was formed to kill cartel members, the troops all had revenge as a motive.
  • Keller entire campigan against Barrera is based off of Barrera's past actions.
• Rogue Agent: How Washington tends to view Keller..
• Slashed Throat: How Chuy kills Gabe using a piece of broken glass.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Far on the cynical side as the novel ends with far more destruction down than good.
• Teens Are Monsters: Chuy and Gabe become murderers for Los Zetas. At the end of the novel, Chuy is about 18.
• The Everyman: Pablo Maro, a reporter for a Juarez paper who has no affliation with the cartel or police. He takes credit for writing a blog about the Zetas, however.
• The Mafia: The Italian mafia in Europe moves the Gulf Cartel's cocaine.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Keller is far from his idealistic youth, believing in fighting dirty to win.
• Tracking Device: Eddie Ruiz gives Diego boots which have one in them. This leads to the raid that kills him.
• Unstoppable Rage: Keller's feeling for Barrera.
• Violence Is Disturbing: None of the violence is shown in a glamorous matter. It is bloody and gruesome.