cover image Dying For the Truth: Undercover Inside the Mexican Drug War

Dying For the Truth: Undercover Inside the Mexican Drug War

The Fugitive Reporters of Blog Del Narco. Feral House (Consortium, dist.), $24.95 (398p) ISBN 978-1-936239-62-7

Led by an anonymous blogger, Blog Del Narco has been chronicling the horrific violence that has become an integral part of Mexico's drug trade. Here, excerpts from the blog are presented in both Spanish and English alongside video stills and images from the blog. Squeamish readers are advised to heed the warning banner wrapped around the book, as the images consist solely of crime scenes: beheadings, gunshot victims, mass executions, dismembered bodies (one instance occurred at a children's museum), and other unforgettably gruesome sights, all accompanied by their respective backstories. The reason for the graphic images, the authors state in their introduction, is both to publish "the undistorted reality of the situation" as well as aid relatives of those killed in the hope that they can recognize and claim the body of a loved one. Perhaps most disturbing is the reactions of the police and military to all the carnage; is indifferent at best and complicit at worst. The book is horrifying, but the group's noble goals%E2%80%94to reveal the brutal acts committed in their country by the often glamorously-portrayed cartels%E2%80%94require a tremendous amount of bravery and resolve. (May)