Alberto Arce writes with stunning power and pace. Under the most difficult circumstances, he tells stories from violence-torn Honduras with an authenticity that reveals to readers terrible realities and the victims, but with an elegance that suggests there are no false notes . . . [He is] a journalist who seems fearless.

American Society of News Editors

AP reporter Alberto Arce chronicled Honduras' collapse into chaos in the aftermath of a coup in 2009. Arce's stories uncovered government-sanctioned death squads, human rights abuses in prisons and corruption among police and military forces. Overcoming a lack of public records available to him, Arce persuaded sources to give him copies of government documents and developed sources within the government, military, court systems and NGOs. He befriended prison officials and gang members alike to gain access to areas they controlled. Arce was eventually pulled out of Honduras after he was warned his reporting would get him killed.

Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)

Arce is a kickass reporter. He writes with a searing honesty and an eye for detail that makes Blood Barrios as terrifying as it is impossible to put down.

Jon Lee Anderson, war correspondent for The New Yorker

It takes a true reporter – gutsy, bloody-minded, driven – to work the streets of Tegucigalpa. Alberto Arce's ballsy, bravely-told account marks him out as the real deal. The world needs more reporters like Arce – who meet bullets with ink, head on. This is a troubling, gritty, brutally truthful book.

Oliver Balch, author of Viva South America! A Journey through a Restless Continent

It took courage for Arce to write what he did in such a lawless place – naming names. If he hadn't, a lot of us who pay attention to what is happening in a region that ought to be of concern to Norteamericanos just wouldn't know.

Tim Ferguson, Forbes and jury member for the Overseas Press Club Award

Reminiscent of The Wire. Blood Barrios is full of perceptive vignettes, each of which shows how cocaine trafficking, and the war on the traffickers, have sent the country spiraling into the abyss. Arce's tone is that of a journalist teetering on the brink of despair.

Tom Feiling, author of Short Walks from Bogotá: Journeys in the New Colombia