In Ciudad Jürez, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, sixteen-year-old Vicente and two of his high school friends murdered his mother, his father, and his little sister in cold blood. Through a Truman Capote-like reconstruction of this seemingly incomprehensible triple murder, Sandra Rodr guez Nieto paints a haunting and unforgettable portrait of one of the most violent cities on Earth. This in-depth and harrowing investigation into the thought processes of three boys leads the reader on an exploration of the city of Jürez, as well as the drug cartels that have waged war on its streets, in a bold attempt to explain the inexplicable.

Ideally qualified for telling this story, Sandra Rodr guez Nieto was an investigative reporter for the daily newspaper El Diario de Jürez for nearly a decade. Despite tremendous danger and the assassination of one of her closest colleagues, she persisted. She didn't want the story of her city told solely by foreign reporters, because, in her words, "I know what is underneath the violence." This book traces the rise of a national culture of murder and bloody retribution, and is a testament to the extraordinary bravery of its author. Among other things, The Story of Vicente is an account of how poverty, political corruption, failing government institutions and US meddling combined to create an explosion of violence in Jürez.

Sandra Rodr guez Nieto began reporting for the Ciudad Jürez daily newspaper El Diario in 2003. She has received the Reporteros Del Mun do prize from the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the Knight International Journalism Award from the International Center for Journalists, and the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting. She was a Harvard Uni versity Nieman Fellow in 2014. She now reports for Sin Embargo.