During the 1980s cocaine dealers and smugglers raised money for the illegal war against the Sandanista government. This book explores the link between the contras and the L.A. crack explosion. Because the reporting is thorough, the book is massive and detailed and requires considerable effort to finish. It is readable, however, because Gary Webb does a good job of bringing a narrative structure to the reporting by structuring the book with the personal story of his discovery of the news story, the steps he took to research and develop it, and his editor's initial acceptance, and eventual cowardly retraction of Webb's findings.

The portrait of crack entrepreneur Freeway Rick is surprising, and adds to the literary and moral complexity of the book. You might say that this book is his story: how he became one of the most succesful known crack entrepreneurs without murdering anybody.

The news story was originally published in the San Jose Mercury News in three parts. The articles were made into an excellent Web site, which included all the evidence Webb used to support his findings, which helped it receive national attention. The site has since been taken down and the story retracted by the paper, but this massive book contains all the information originally published and much, much more.