Dan Slater’s Wolf Boys, Nonfiction Book About Drug Cartels, Banned From Texas Prisons

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has banned Wolf Boys by Dan Slater from its prison system after an excerpt of the book appeared in Texas Monthly and became popular throughout the state’s prisons.

The nonfiction book follows the true story of Gabriel Cardona, an American teenager and star quarterback who joined a Mexican drug cartel as an assassin, and Robert Garcia, the Mexican-American detective who tracked Cardona down.

The TDCJ’s Directors Review Committee alleged that the book “contains material on the setting up and operation of criminal schemes or how to avoid detection of criminal schemes by lawful authorities charged with the responsibility of detecting such illegal activity.” In particular, it was a passage regarding drug smuggling that led to the book being banned.

This is a decision that will invariably lead to discussions about freedom of speech and prisoners’ rights, especially since the book talks about the institutions and problems that led to many of said prisoners being incarcerated. And that’s not to mention that Banned Books Week starts in a little less than a week, on Sept. 25.

This is a story that could gain even more traction as time goes by, since TriStar Pictures acquired the film rights to the book back in January, with Antoine Fuqua slated to direct.

Wolf Boys is available for purchase now via Simon & Schuster. Find video of Slater discussing his book and its full cover below.