[A] fast-paced tale of the decades-long quest to capture a notorious drug kingpin... Feuer builds a taut narrative of the cat-and-mouse game that found Guzmán...[and] he knows how to spin a tale. Fans of Don Winslow's fiction and Mark Bowden's nonfiction alike will be eager to read Feuer's blood-spattered tale. - Kirkus Reviews
El Chapo Guzmán was both a criminal and a celebrity – something like Depression Era-gangsters Al Capone and John Dillinger....
New York Times reporter Alan Feuer, who covered Guzmán's 2019 drug trafficking trial, charts his rise from teenage smuggler to drug lord – a mix of tall tales and brutal crimes. -
San Antonio Express-News
[A] brisk, rich account of the kingpin's rise to power and his downfall -
The New York Times [A] brisk, compact tale -
The New York Times Book Review Perhaps no one alive incites fear and fascination quite like Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán.... A reporter for the
New York Times, Mr Feuer covered Mr Guzmán's trial in New York..."El Jefe" builds upon that reportage by diving into the events leading up to the courtroom drama, from Mr Guzmán's beginnings as a small-time marijuana farmer to the joint Mexican-American operation that ultimately brought him down. Through the lens of Mr Guzmán's life, Mr Feuer reveals much about society and the drug trade in both Mexico and America. -
The Economist
