At the Devil's Table - Book Review

When I watched Narcos: Season 3 (see my review here), there were certainly parts of it where I wondered what was dramatized and what wasn't. As a fan of true crime books, I was ecstatic when I saw that there was a book out there that covered the fall of the Cali Cartel. Little did I realize that some dramatic parts of the show actually happened, while other parts were completely fictionalized. It made me look at the show in a whole new light.

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General Information

At the Devil's Table: Inside the Fall of the Cali Cartel, the World's Biggest Crime Syndicate (I'll be excluding the portions of the title after the colon for brevity's sake), was published on 21 June 2011 and is a true crime nonfiction thriller. It was written by former LA Times reporter and editor, William C. Rempel, who derived most of the book from several interviews with former chief of security for the Cali Cartel, Jorge Salcedo. 

Although I love true crime books, my biggest concern whenever I read from that genre is if the information is legitimate and credible. I've been burned in the past and the most suspect books in this genre are typically ones where most of the information comes from a single source. Some of my concerns with this book were alleviated thankfully, as Rempel understands this too and attempted to de-conflict Salcedo's testimony by cross-referencing his statements with everything he could find in public records and with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Because of this, I found the majority of the book to be credible.

I was unable to tell if Netflix directly optioned this book as its primary source for Narcos: Season 3, however the book covers nearly every aspect of the third season and more. This book doesn't necessarily change my original opinion of Narcos: Season 3, however it definitely made me scratch my head over some of what Netflix decided to dramatize.

Setting

The focus of the book is on the Cali Cartel from 1989 to late 1995 as the syndicate transitioned from warring with Pablo Escobar to attempting to manipulate Colombia's legal system in order to evade prosecution. Rempel presents a unique perspective by directing most of the book through the eyes of Jorge Salcedo, who was originally brought into the cartel's fold to orchestrate an armed assault on Pablo Escobar's infamous compound at Napoles. Much of the book keeps its focus solely on Salcedo, so if you really want to understand the inner-workings of the Cali Cartel, there may be some disappointment.

One thing that I really liked about how this book was set up was that it never loses its primary focus in regards to its characters. Some true crime books will hop from personality to personality so that it becomes difficult to remember who is who, which can end up ruining the overall flow. I liked that Rempel narrowed his focus so that many recurring personalities became readily recognizable.

One thing that somewhat disappointed me about this book was its lack of photos. Now, before you laugh at me for demanding pictures in a book, many true crime books typically include black and white photos of various major personalities featured in it. For me, this helps me remember and visualize certain figures so that I can better follow the story. Rempel does include some scanned images of drawings and photos of very specific locations, however it would've been nice to see the TIME magazine cover that the Cali Cartel were featured in or even just have a photo spread of the main four godfathers. Thankfully, since I watched Narcos: Season 3, I was able to at least visualize many of this book's personalities via their portrayal in the TV show.

The Characters

As mentioned earlier, Jorge Salcedo is the main focus, which is quite interesting as he had very little interest in being involved with an international crime syndicate throughout the book. In fact, it's fascinating understanding that Salcedo defected to the DEA not because he was concerned about being arrested, but that he was ordered to kill someone. I've read from the perspectives of both repentant and unrepentant killers/gangsters/spies before, but Salcedo is unique in his regard that he was never "one of the boys." In fact, Salcedo was so unique in my opinion that I believed his character was fictionalized in the television show when I first watched it. Despite that mentality, Salcedo was certainly still a criminal as he knowingly enabled a crime syndicate in its mission to murder disloyal members and traffic tons of cocaine into the US.

I think one of my favorite aspects of Salcedo was that he was not a lumbering tough guy like many other eventual defectors in true crime books. Salcedo is educated and clearly meticulous as the book shows how he kept the Cali Cartel godfathers alive and protected from both Escobar's sicarios and Colombian security forces. The fact that he could draw up detailed plans and work so well with the DEA makes him more like Jason Bourne than Sammy Gravano.

Another character I was excited to read about was Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, who acted as the main driving force behind much of the Cali Cartel's operations. In the television show, he came off as shy and moody, and it seems that this was somewhat how he was in real-life as the book depicts him in the same light. We see a lot more of Miguel's personality and behavior in the book, and it's interesting seeing what a cartel boss would (and would not) share with his own chief of security.

The Story

Salcedo's ascent from mercenary middleman to chief of security is pretty fascinating as you can see that his world only gradually shifts until it's no longer recognizable. I found myself somewhat baffled by Salcedo's naivete that he not only assumed he would never have to betray his consequence while working for a cartel, but that he also thought the cartel would let him resign. The sheer level of optimistic gullibility rides fairly high throughout much of the book until almost the very end. I don't necessarily hold this against the book however, as it does explain early on that dealing with cartels in 1980s' Colombia was a fairly routine thing.

The second half of the book reads more like a spy thriller novel than a true retelling of actual events, which makes for fantastic reading. The book definitely becomes a page-turner when Salcedo finally makes the jump to working for the DEA. I was a little disappointed at the very end, however, as the book just sort of ends once Salcedo leaves Colombia. We get some quick exposition from Rempel with an additional section that explains what happened to individual people in the story, however it's all very clean-cut and removed from the overall main story. Considering the book hit shelves during the 2010s', it would've been nice to have at least an additional chapter or two that explains how the cartel crumbled with the fall of Salcedo's bosses.

The Best of the Best: When the DEA is less than a foot from one of the world's most powerful drug dealers but can't make the arrest because they handled the warrant incorrectly.

The Worst of the Worst: The seemingly rushed ending. I get that Salcedo wasn't there anymore, but there are public records that could better describe how things closed out for the cartel.

Would I Recommend?

If you liked Narcos: Season 3 or want a fresh perspective in a true crime book, then I recommend this one. As far as how this compares to other true crime books, I'd say this is of slightly above-average quality. 

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

*At the Devil's Table. (n.d.). Book cover image. Amazon.com. Retrieved from: https://www.amazon.com/At-Devils-Table-Biggest-Syndicate/dp/0099557770.