“The Mastermind is a tour de force of shoe-leather reporting?undertaken, amid threats and menacing, at considerable personal risk. Ratliff’s reportage unfolds in crisp, atmospheric prose, and he brings a dispassionate eye to a milieu lousy with unreliable narrators, triangulating where possible to separate fact from legend.”?Los Angeles Times

“A complex tale of true crime on a global scale . . . a wholly engrossing story that joins the worlds of El Chapo and Edward Snowden; both disturbing and memorable.”?Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“With his relentless and fearless reporting, Evan Ratliff has pried open a hidden world filled with high-tech gangsters and drug kingpins and double-crossers and stone-cold hitmen. The story is as fascinating as it is terrifying, and it is one that will hold you in its grip.”?David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon

“A true crime classic.”?Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“If truth is stranger than fiction, then The Mastermind is the truest book you’ll read this year. The only thing predictable about it is how quickly you’ll turn the pages.”?Noah Hawley, author of Before the Fall and creator of the TV series Fargo

“As directors, we spend countless hours imagining heightened plots and memorable characters that will leave a lasting impression on audiences. The true tale of obsession, genius, intrigue, and vengeance detailed in The Mastermind is as gripping and cinematic as anything we could endeavor to conjure up.”?Joe and Anthony Russo, directors, Captain America and Avengers: Infinity War
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“This is a mesmerizing, absolutely bonkers story about a man as brilliant as he is villainous. You’ll find yourself sucked in, freaked out, and ultimately blown away by Ratliff's storytelling and tireless reporting. The Mastermind is a masterpiece.”?Nick Thompson, editor-in-chief, Wired