Reviews
"Grillo approaches the issue of proliferating firearms from myriad angles. . . . [He] brings more than two decades of intimate experience to the task, much of that spent in Mexico covering the impact of the ''iron river'' of firearms that flows south from America into the hands of drug cartels and remorseless gangsters." - USA Today "Expertly maps the grisly North American landscape for firearms." - Nick Miroff, The Washington Post "An alarming and deeply reported account of how the U.S. gun trade fuels bloodshed, terror, and refugee crises throughout the Western hemisphere . . . This expert account makes the high cost of America''s thirst for guns crystal clear." - Publishers Weekly, starred review "Blood Gun Money is a solid account that offers a fresh perspective on an issue that has significant domestic and international ramifications." - Bookbrowse "Ioan Grillo is one of the best reporters covering the cartels, crime and carnage south of the border. In Blood Gun Money , he traces the drug-gun pipeline that runs straight from that violence to the beating heart of America. It''s even weirder and bloodier than the fiction." - Don Winslow, author of THE CARTEL and THE BORDER "Written in a gripping narrative style and with details gleaned from firsthand reporting, Ioan Grillo has written a vitally important book about the ''iron river.'' " - Jon Lee Anderson, author of CHE GUEVARA "While Americans fear mass shootings, Ioan Grillo''s fascinating and well-researched book shows that gun trafficking is the most important gun issue of our time." - Adam Winkler, author of GUNFIGHT "Ioan Grillo is one of the bravest and most thoughtful journalists in the world. If you want to know what''s really going on, you have to read him--and especially this excellent book." - Johann Hari, author of CHASING THE SCREAM "A globe-trotting investigation into the symbiotic worlds of the gun trade and organized crime, mostly involving drugs--one terrifying, amazing, illuminating story after another, and characters who dismay, chill, awe and sometimes even inspire. Reaching the end of this utterly absorbing journey, you''ll feel like you''ve learned secrets and truths of the tragic lethal mayhem of the world, of its intractable causes and complexities." - Francisco Goldman, author of THE ART OF POLITICAL MURDER "Gripping. The definitive story of how, for decades, hundreds of thousands of firearms bought legally in the United States have been smuggled into Mexico and fueled unspeakable violence." - León Krauze, Univision "A haunting investigation into one of humanity''s most urgent battles. Both heartbreaking and impossible to put down." - Matthew Heinemann, Director of the Oscar-nominated Cartel Land and A Private War "Magnificent. A must read for anyone interested in the river of lead that drives the global illicit economy." - Alejandro Hope, Security Analyst, El Universal "A striking report on the fanatical promotion of guns'' enormous, painful consequences in the U.S., Mexico and Latin America." - Temoris Grecko, author of KILLING THE STORY "A finger of truth pointing North from the Mexican border, showing how the gun, so beloved by American libertarians and lobbyists, has sown death and destruction South of the border. Grillo isn''t just a brilliant writer. He''s a modern Dante." - Iain Overton, author of GUN BABY GUN and Executive Director of Action on Armed Violence "Combines academic rigor with street smarts to take us on a journey around the globe to meet obscure firearm manufacturers, hitmen pulling the trigger, and the many people on the receiving end of gunfire. In painstaking detail, Grillo lays out the evidence and history we need to understand how the United States became the center of the global iron river of firearms, and how the consequences of gun violence reach all of us." - Jorge Valencia, The World, "Ioan Grillo is one of the best reporters covering the cartels, crime and carnage south of the border. In Blood Gun Money , he traces the drug-gun pipeline that runs straight from that violence to the beating heart of America. It's even weirder and bloodier than the fiction." -- Don Winslow, author of THE CARTEL and THE BORDER "Written in a gripping narrative style and with details gleaned from firsthand reporting, Ioan Grillo has written a vitally important book about the 'iron river.'" -- Jon Lee Anderson, author of CHE GUEVARA "While Americans fear mass shootings, Ioan Grillo's fascinating and well-researched book shows that gun trafficking is the most important gun issue of our time." -- Adam Winkler, author of GUNFIGHT "An alarming and deeply reported account of how the U.S. gun trade fuels bloodshed, terror, and refugee crises throughout the Western hemisphere . . . This expert account makes the high cost of America's thirst for guns crystal clear." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review "Ioan Grillo is one of the bravest and most thoughtful journalists in the world. If you want to know what's really going on, you have to read him-and especially this excellent book." -- Johann Hari, author of CHASING THE SCREAM "Expertly maps the grisly North American landscape for firearms." -- Nick Miroff, The Washington Post "A globe-trotting investigation into the symbiotic worlds of the gun trade and organized crime, mostly involving drugs-one terrifying, amazing, illuminating story after another, and characters who dismay, chill, awe and sometimes even inspire. Reaching the end of this utterly absorbing journey, you'll feel like you've learned secrets and truths of the tragic lethal mayhem of the world, of its intractable causes and complexities." -- Francisco Goldman, author of THE ART OF POLITICAL MURDER "Gripping. The definitive story of how, for decades, hundreds of thousands of firearms bought legally in the United States have been smuggled into Mexico and fueled unspeakable violence." -- León Krauze, Univision "A haunting investigation into one of humanity's most urgent battles. Both heartbreaking and impossible to put down." -- Matthew Heinemann, Director of the Oscar-nominated Cartel Land and A Private War "Magnificent. A must read for anyone interested in the river of lead that drives the global illicit economy." -- Alejandro Hope, Security Analyst, El Universal "A striking report on the fanatical promotion of guns' enormous, painful consequences in the U.S., Mexico and Latin America." -- Temoris Grecko, author of KILLING THE STORY "A finger of truth pointing North from the Mexican border, showing how the gun, so beloved by American libertarians and lobbyists, has sown death and destruction South of the border. Grillo isn't just a brilliant writer. He's a modern Dante." -- Iain Overton, author of GUN BABY GUN and Executive Director of Action on Armed Violence "Combines academic rigor with street smarts to take us on a journey around the globe to meet obscure firearm manufacturers, hitmen pulling the trigger, and the many people on the receiving end of gunfire. In painstaking detail, Grillo lays out the evidence and history we need to understand how the United States became the center of the global iron river of firearms, and how the consequences of gun violence reach all of us." -- Jorge Valencia, The World, "Without this testimony, we simply cannot grasp what is going on . . . Americans would do well to read [ Gangster Warlords ]." -- The New York Times Book Review on GANGSTER WARLORDS, Editor's Choice "Reading Gangster Warlords is a like riding shotgun through the darkest battlefields of the drug war with a hardboiled narcotics detective at the wheel . . . With terrific storytelling and analytical sweep, Grillo's guided tour lays bare the interconnected nature of 21st century crime and drug trafficking in the Americas." -- The Washington Post, on GANGSTER WARLORDS "Terrific . . . essential reading." -- NewYorker.com on EL NARCO "Filled with the sort of unforgettable details to which only a reporter who has been on this beat for years would be privy." -- The Boston Globe on EL NARCO, "An alarming and deeply reported account of how the U.S. gun trade fuels bloodshed, terror, and refugee crises throughout the Western hemisphere . . . This expert account makes the high cost of America's thirst for guns crystal clear." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review "Ioan Grillo is one of the bravest and most thoughtful journalists in the world. If you want to know what's really going on, you have to read him-and especially this excellent book." -- Johann Hari, author of LOST CONNECTIONS "Grillo's fast-paced writing and vivid interviews with gunmakers, cops, criminals and cartel assassins guide readers up and down the tributaries of a grisly North American landscape, enabled by weak U.S. laws, that connect urban combat on the streets of Baltimore to the terrifying arsenals of Mexico's mafias and the gang wars of Central America." -- Nick Miroff, The Washington Post "Without this testimony, we simply cannot grasp what is going on . . . Americans would do well to read [ Gangster Warlords ]." -- The New York Times Book Review on GANGSTER WARLORDS, Editor's Choice "Terrific . . . essential reading." -- NewYorker.com on EL NARCO "Reading Gangster Warlords is a like riding shotgun through the darkest battlefields of the drug war with a hardboiled narcotics detective at the wheel . . . With terrific storytelling and analytical sweep, Grillo's guided tour lays bare the interconnected nature of 21st century crime and drug trafficking in the Americas." -- The Washington Post, on GANGSTER WARLORDS "Filled with the sort of unforgettable details to which only a reporter who has been on this beat for years would be privy." -- The Boston Globe on EL NARCO
