Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man

by Martin Corona, Tony Rafael Narrated by Jacob Vargas

Overview

The true confession of an assassin, a sicario, who rose through the ranks of the Southern California gang world to become a respected leader in an elite, cruelly efficient crew of hit men for Mexico's "most vicious drug cartel," and eventually found a way out and an (almost) normal life.
 
Martin Corona, a US citizen, fell into the outlaw life at twelve and worked for a crew run by the Arellano brothers, founders of the the Tijuana drug cartel that dominated the Southern California drug trade and much bloody gang warfare for decades. Corona's crew would cross into the United States from their luxurious hideout in Mexico, kill whoever needed to be killed north of the border, and return home in the afternoon. That work continued until the arrest of Javier Arellano-Félix in 2006 in a huge coordinated DEA operation. Martin Corona played a key role in the downfall of the cartel when he turned state's evidence. He confessed to multiple murders. Special Agent of the California Department of Justice Steve Duncan, who wrote the foreword, says Martin Corona is the only former cartel hit man he knows who is truly remorseful. 
 
Martin's father was a US Marine. The family had many solid middle-class advantages, including the good fortune to be posted in Hawaii for a time during which a teenage Martin thought he might be able to turn away from the outlaw life of theft, drug dealing, gun play, and prostitution. He briefly quit drugs and held down a job, but a die had been cast. He soon returned to a gangbanging life he now deeply regrets.
 
How does someone become evil, a murderer who can kill without hesitation? This story is an insight into how it happened to one human being and how he now lives with himself. He is no longer a killer; he has asked for forgiveness; he has made a kind of peace for himself. He wrote letters to family members of his victims. Some of them not only wrote back but came to support him at his parole hearings. It is a cautionary tale, but also one that shows that evil doesn't have to be forever.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Advance Praise for Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man

"Corona’s engaging story offers an insider’s peek into gang and prison life, providing insight into how a seemingly average boy can become a drug kingpin and a murderer. Recommended for true crime lovers." —Library Journal

"In the world of LA crime writers, the late great Tony Rafael was ahead of his time. He perceived truths and stories that others couldn’t, or wouldn’t. The world he helps Martin Corona take us to here is one that few writers would have dared enter, much less known how to navigate. Don’t miss this—the latest and last work of a great crime writer."
—Sam Quinones, author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic

“Martin Corona takes you inside the scary world of drug gangs and killers as only a man who walked those streets can. His book is courageous, and a gripping read. It should be required reading for anybody concerned about gang violence, street crime and border security.”  —Fred Burton, Vice President for Intelligence, Stratfor, former State Department special agent, and author of Ghost: Confessions of a Counte"terrorism"Agent  

“Martin Corona has written a raw, gritty first-person account of the dark world of the cartel enforcer. His book is a rare and very personal look into that universe, drawn from his own experiences of brutal violence. Corona spent so long in the belly of the beast that’s it is nothing short of a miracle that he has returned to tell this shocking tale.”
—Ricardo Ainslie, Director, Mexico Center, University of Texas at Austin

Library Journal

08/01/2017
Cartel hit man-turned-government informant Corona, with writer Rafael (coauthor, The Mexican Mafia), tells of how he got involved in a life of drugs and crime at an early age. From a military family, Corona grew up playing Little League and fishing but somehow he felt he didn't belong. He was more at home on the street than anywhere else and spent most of his childhood and teenage years in corrections programs. Through the connections he made in prison and in gangs, he eventually went to work for the founders of the Tijuana drug cartel that dominated the Southern California drug trade for decades. Corona often ended up in situations where he would need to kill members of warring gangs. Life was luxurious but so violent that eventually he wanted out. In this highly detailed, tell-all work, readers can follow the author on his real-life journey from military brat to gang leader to informant. VERDICT Corona's engaging story offers an insider's peek into gang and prison life, providing insight into how a seemingly average boy can become a drug kingpin and a murderer. Recommended for true crime lovers.—Kristen Calvert, Marion Cty. P.L. Syst., Ocala, FL

Kirkus Reviews

2017-05-16
Account of a reformed gangster's employment with the Arrelano-Felix Brothers drug cartel.A foreword by California Justice Department Special Agent Steve Duncan sets up Corona's unusual confessional. He explains, "Corona [was] a member of the ‘Death Squad,' a special group of cartel enforcers with tactical ability." In the aftermath of the brothers' notorious 1993 airport murder of a Mexican cardinal, American law enforcement successfully indicted Corona's generation of cartel killers. Corona made a deal with prosecutors; Duncan notes, he "testified to each murder in Federal Grand Jury often times crying as he recounted the details to jurors." This book supposedly stems from the same redemptive impulse. Corona writes of his California childhood, where, despite a strict but stable upbringing in a military family, he was attracted to gang life from an early age, dealing drugs on the beach at age 13: "Even though I was technically a Posole home boy, I made it a point not to dress like a gangster." He was soon sent to the California Youth Authority, which is "basically the farm team for the Mexican Mafia." As Corona was reincarcerated between criminal schemes, his involvement deepened in the harsh, regimented subculture of Mexican gangs, revolving around bloody conflict between northerners and southerners. In 1992, one such prison connection led him to employment with David Barron, an infamous cartel enforcer. The author takes readers on a violent ride, but many characters are only identified with street names, blurring the narrative. Although he writes of his regret, Corona's storytelling still glamorizes gang life, with its focus on honor and loyalty expressed through violence. His memoir has a seedy authenticity regarding the nitty-gritty of how gangsters thrive in prison, prepare and transport weapons, stalk targets, and so forth. But Corona's prose relies on clichés and pulpy digressions. An unusual, self-aggrandizing, ground-level look at the dangerous milieu of Mexican cartels.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172138942
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	07/25/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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Excerpted from "Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man"
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