BOOK REVIEW: "The Fight to Save Juárez: Life in the Heart of Mexico's Drug War," by Ricardo Ainslie

I was very lucky to have been asked to do a peer review of this manuscript during the publishing process, as I got to read this admirable work before almost anyone else. I get asked to do a lot of reviews of books dealing with Mexico's drug war, and while I love expanding my knowledge of the subject, sometimes the material gets a bit repetitive. That's just the nature of our business; there are certain facts and issues you have to hit in case your readers are wholly unfamiliar with the topic. However, what I loved the most about The Fight is the fact that Ainslie manages to work drug war facts and history into a gripping narrative, rather than the norm, which is the other way around.

The Fight tells the story (among others) of the descent of Ciudad Juárez into a violent narco hell during the tenure of former Mayor José Reyes Ferriz roughly between 2007-2010). While the narrative is primarily from Ferriz's perspective, Ainslie also delves into the lives of a cartel member's mistress, a human rights activist, a photojournalist, and others. He describes in heart-wrenching details events like the Villas del Salvarcar massacre, where gang members on a cartel payroll ambushed a party and killed several innocent teenagers and young adults in a case of mistaken identity. You can feel Ferriz's anxiety in dealing with corrupt police officials and trying to find someone willing, able and courageous enough to take a leadership role that often equates to suicide.

To say that Ainslie had an in-the-trenches perspective while researching this book is an understatement. He had first-hand access to the Mayor, members of for President Felipe Calderón's cabinet, and citizens on the street whose stories tend to be far more fascinating than anything you can find in fiction. Far too often we learn about Ciudad Juárez through news reports telling all about body counts and cartel perpetrators, which completely dehumanizes the city and its all-too-human population. The Fight takes the reader into the heart of life as a Juárez resident, and not just someone looking in from the safety behind bulletproof glass. The research is impeccable and the narrative is rich and gripping. If you want to learn more about the struggle to return Juárez to some semblance of normalcy from the perspective of real people rather than headlines, then I highly recommend you pick up a copy of The Fight to Save Juárez.