The Cartel (2015) Signed First Edition Reference

The Cartel was published by Knopf in 2015, the second volume of the Cartel Trilogy. Picking up ten years after The Power of the Dog, the novel follows Art Keller and Adán Barrera through the bloodiest period of the Mexican drug war — the decade that saw mass graves, narco-terrorism, the Juárez femicides, and the systematic corruption of the Mexican state by cartel money.

The Book

The Cartel is arguably Winslow’s most harrowing novel. Where The Power of the Dog depicted the drug trade’s structure and logic, The Cartel shows its human cost — the bodies in the streets, the journalists murdered for reporting, the communities destroyed by violence they did not choose. Winslow’s research is meticulous and his anger is palpable, producing a novel that reads as both crime fiction and an act of witness.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Knopf, New York Publication date: 2015 Format: Hardcover in dust jacket

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition, fine/fine: $75–$200
• Inscribed copies: $100–$350
• Unsigned first edition: $15–$30

The middle volume of the Trilogy, with a larger first printing than The Power of the Dog reflecting Winslow’s growing audience. Signed copies are available from his extensive 2015 tour.