Audio only
Length10h 41m
About this audiobook
“A remarkable feat of reporting.”—Rachel Louise Snyder, author of No Visible Bruises
*WINNER OF THE LUKAS PRIZE*
The definitive account of the most notorious street gang in America—the MS-13—as seen through the lives of gang members and their families caught in its malicious web
The MS-13 was born from war. In the 1980s, El Salvador was enmeshed in a bloody civil conflict. To escape the guerrilla assaults and death squads, many fled to the US and settled in Los Angeles. Among them were Alex and his brother.
There, as a survival instinct, Alex and a small number of Salvadoran immigrants formed a group called the Mara Salvatrucha Stoners, a relatively harmless social network bound by heavy metal music and their Salvadoran identity. But later, as they brushed against established local gangs, the group took on a harder edge, selling drugs, stealing cars and killing rivals who threatened their territories. As authorities cracked down, gang members like Alex were incarcerated and deported. But in the prison system, the group only grew stronger, and in Central America, the gang multiplied, eventually spreading to a half-dozen nations in two continents.
Today, MS-13 is one of the most infamous street gangs on earth, with an estimated ten thousand members operating in dozens of states and linked to thousands of grisly murders each year in the US and abroad. But it is also misunderstood—less a drug cartel and more a hand-to-mouth organization whose criminal economy is based mostly on small-time extortion schemes and petty drug dealing. Journalist and longtime organized crime investigator Steven Dudley brings readers inside the nefarious group to tell a larger story of how a flawed US and Central American policy, and the exploitative and unequal economic systems helped foster the gang and sustain it. Ultimately, MS-13 is the story of the modern immigrant and the perennial battle to escape a vortex of poverty and crime, as well as the repressive, unequal systems that feed these problems.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.0 (1.4K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, LibraryThing
GenreTrue Crime, Psychology, History
Length10 hrs 41 mins
Narrated byChristian Barillas
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateSep 8, 2020
LanguageEnglish
Deadly ForceLawrence O'Donnell17h 18m4.5 (342)$40 · $0.00
Walking the BowlChris Lockhart, Daniel Mulilo Chama9h 7m4.4 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
Trial by FireScott James13h 31m4.4 (1.4K)$23
PapillonHenri Charriere18h 19m4.3 (90.2K)$40 · $0.00
The SuspectKent Alexander, Kevin Salwen14h 12m4.4 (3K)$23 · $0.00
The Cause of DeathCynric Temple-Camp8h 59m4.4 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
GanglandJared Savage9h 21m4.4 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
Riding with EvilKen Croke, Dave Wedge9h 42m4.3 (3.4K)$29 · $0.00
Raven 23Gina Keating8h 16m4.7 (55)$26 · $0.00
The Two FBIsNicole Parker10h 8m4.4 (499)$29 · $0.00
I Catch KillersGary Jubelin15h 32m4.3 (6.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Redemption Of Bobby LoveBobby Love, Cheryl Love9h 13m4.4 (956)$29 · $0.00
The Life We ChoseMatt Birkbeck8h 57m4.4 (1K)$29 · $0.00
The Truth About AaronJonathan Hernandez5h 15m4.3 (2.5K)$24 · $0.00
No Ordinary BirdArtis Henderson6h 23m4.4 (597)$24 · $0.00
I'll Be Gone in the DarkMichelle McNamara10h 7m4.3 (302.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Silk Route SpyDr Enakshi Sengupta5h 57m4.5 (182)$24 · $0.00
Beyond the Body FarmBill Bass, Jon Jefferson6h 17m4.3 (10.2K)$24 · $0.00
The Killer Across the TableJohn E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker11h 7m4.3 (37.5K)$8 · $0.00
Inside the CartelMartin Suarez, Ian Frisch10h 50m4.4 (583)$29 · $0.00
Ullathin KuralPrem Rawat8h 17m4.8 (165)$18 · $0.00
Vax FactsPaul Thomas MD, Deedee Hoover10h 26m4.7 (577)$25
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
TerraformPropaganda5h 39m4.7 (594)$24 · $0.00
Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (Annotated)Ida B. Wells-Barnett2h 44m4.6 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
Hour of the HeartIrvin D. Yalom, Benjamin Yalom8h 19m4.6 (2.3K)$26 · $0.00
The Thomas Sowell ReaderThomas Sowell14h 51m4.6 (2.3K)$25
So You Want to Talk about RaceIjeoma Oluo7h 41m4.6 (146.2K)$17
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
Level UpRob Dial7h 42m4.6 (3.3K)$26 · $0.00
As a JewSarah Hurwitz8h 36m4.6 (1.2K)$26 · $0.00
Saint Joan (Annotated)George Bernard Shaw6h 20m4.6 (1.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
Burn the HaystackJennie Young, PhD9h 30m4.6 (543)$29 · $0.00
Woman and the New Race (Annotated)Margaret Sanger6h 30m4.6 (1K)$0.99 · $0.00
Good InsideBecky Kennedy9h 55m4.5 (59.3K)$29 · $0.00
Du Bois: EssaysW.E.B. Du Bois6h 22m4.6 (1.5K)$1 · $0.00
The North American Indian (Illustrated Edition)Edward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge5h 59m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Valley of the BirdtailAndrew Stobo Sniderman, Douglas Sanderson10h 1m4.6 (2.4K)$29 · $0.00
Lies My Therapist Told MeGreg E. Gifford9h 3m4.6 (503)$29 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America (Annotated)Howard Irving Chapelle, Tappan Adney13h 9m4.8 (150)$0.99 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m4.6 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h4.6 (5.2K)$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
Saving My EnemyBob Welch9h 11m4.6 (2.3K)$20
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
The Red Record (Annotated)Ida B. Wells-Barnett5h 19m4.8 (102)$0.99 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m4.6 (159.1K)$15
EnduranceAlfred Lansing6h 1m4.6 (40.8K)$20
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m4.6 (9.8K)$40 · $0.00
You may also like
The Complete Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Novels, Short Stories and Autobiographical WritingsFyodor Dostoyevsky270h 59m4.7 (2.5K)$2 · $0.00
The Known WorldEdward P. Jones14h 18m4.0 (56.9K)$33 · $0.00
DreamlandKevin Baker6h3.7 (1.9K)$24 · $0.00
Manhattan TransferJohn Dos Passos14h 35m3.9 (20.7K)$2.40
The JungleUpton Sinclair13h 17m3.9 (186.5K)$23
Gotti's RulesGeorge Anastasia9h 28m3.8 (2.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Dress LodgerSheri Holman12h 38m3.7 (8.9K)$23
MoreGünday, Hakan12h 1m4.1 (4.7K)Free
The JungleUpton Sinclair15h 31m3.9 (184.2K)$2.30
Moll FlandersDaniel Defoe13h 4m3.7 (60K)$1.20 · $0.00
Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation: 1838-1839 (Annotated)Fanny Kemble12h 46m4.1 (569)$0.99 · $0.00
Wonder ValleyIvy Pochoda10h 40m3.7 (3.8K)$29 · $0.00
Work like Any OtherVirginia Reeves8h 5m3.8 (2.8K)$20 · $0.00
Fools DieMario Puzo19h 45m3.7 (8.6K)$32
Pablo EscobarJuan Pablo Escobar12h 12m4.1 (8K)$23 · $0.00
Australia's Most Infamous Jail: Inside the walls of Pentridge PrisonJames Phelps8h 35m4.1 (347)$26 · $0.00
HurricanesRick Ross, Neil Martinez-Belkin5h 53m4.3 (7.1K)$24 · $0.00
The Great Mrs. EliasBarbara Chase-Riboud15h 1m3.9 (1.5K)$33 · $0.00
Dangerous RhythmsT. J. English15h 9m4.2 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
You can't winJack Black13h 7m4.4 (7.6K)$1 · $0.00