Blood in the Fields: Ten Years Inside California's Nuestra Familia Gang

· Chicago Review Press
4.6
44 reviews
Ebook
368
Pages
Eligible
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About this ebook

The city of Salinas, California, is the birthplace of John Steinbeck and the setting for his epic masterpiece, East of Eden, but it is also the home of Nuestra Familia, one of the most violent gangs in America. Born in the prisons of California in the late 1960s, Nuestra Familia expanded to control drug trafficking and extortion operations throughout the northern half of the state, and left a trail of bodies in its wake. Prize-winning journalist and Nieman Fellow Julia Reynolds tells the gang's story from the inside out, following young men and women as they search for a new kind of family, quests that usually lead to murder and betrayal.

Blood in the Fields also documents the history of Operation Black Widow, the FBI's questionable decade-long effort to dismantle the Nuestra Familia, along with its compromised informants and the turf wars it created with local law enforcement agencies. Journalist Reynolds uses her unprecedented access to gang members, both in and out of prison, as well as undercover wire taps, depositions, and court documents to weave a gripping, comprehensive history of this brutal criminal organization and the lives it destroyed.

Ratings and reviews

4.6
44 reviews
A Google user
January 30, 2019
It's So Sad to read about Real Old Friends in the past you knew and how dedicated they are to A Gang that only can promise you Life in prison or Death. So sad for there kids and family who love them something terrible. Blind folded into madness distrution ,Chaos. Are Rebels without a cause.
5 people found this review helpful
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A Google user
March 21, 2017
It left me like wow... Just everything in this book is on point, and she has a way with words to make you want to read the whole book in one sitting.
6 people found this review helpful
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Trisha Herrera (Mija831)
August 6, 2015
Brought back memories of growing up in Salinas. Crazy how this woman just was in it all. Brave lady.
8 people found this review helpful
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About the author

Julia Reynolds coproduced and wrote the PBS documentary Nuestra Familia, Our Family, and reported on the northern California gang for more than a decade. She currently works as a staff writer at the Monterey County Herald and has reported for National Public Radio, the Discovery Channel, The Nation, Mother Jones, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more.

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