Publisher's Synopsis
In the sun-baked streets of Culiacán, the heartland of the Sinaloa Cartel, a young, brilliant architect named Rodrigo Rios is facing the quiet desperation of a life unfulfilled. Weighed down by debt and disillusioned with the legitimate world, he accepts an offer from his childhood friend, the son of the enigmatic cartel leader Isidro "El Viejo" Cardenas. The offer is simple: use his intelligence and quiet demeanor in service of the cartel. It is a choice that will lead him down a path of unimaginable power and spectacular ruin.
Christened "El Fantasma," Rodrigo sheds his old life and becomes the most feared and innovative commander in the organization. He forges an elite crew of assassins, Los Espectros, and wages a brutal war against his rivals. But his true genius lies not in violence, but in branding. He creates a public persona, "Comandante Fantasma," an anonymous narco-celebrity who broadcasts a life of impossible luxury and power on social media. His feed-a curated gallery of supercars, pet tigers, and custom weapons-becomes a viral sensation, making him a legend and a powerful recruiting tool for a new generation. He is the influencer sicario, a king ruling a digital empire.
His rise, however, is being meticulously documented by an unseen enemy. In a windowless room in San Diego, DEA Agent David Miller sees the ghost's digital footprint not as a myth, but as a trail of evidence. As Rodrigo's fame makes him a target for both jealous rivals and the law, he is drawn into a high-stakes international game of cat and mouse, from the battlefields of Mexico to the luxury suites of Europe. Based on a shocking true story, Where Ghosts Go to Die is a relentless, action-packed thriller about a new kind of criminal for the modern age-a man who built a global empire on a social media account, only to discover that every post, every follower, and every 'like' was another bar in the cage being built around him.
