James embarks on a dangerous mission for the CHERUB agency, taking down the world's most powerful drug lord, putting his own safety aside in the hopes of ridding the streets of dangerous drugs.

"With a great reporter's narrative skill and the storytelling ability of a novelist, acclaimed journalist Sam Quinones weaves together two tales of capitalism catastrophically run amok. The unfettered prescribing of pain medications during the 1990s reached its peak in Purdue Pharma's campaign to market OxyContin, its new, expensive--extremely addictive--miracle painkiller. Meanwhile, a massive influx of black tar heroin--cheap, potent, and originating...

Living on the University of Colorado-Boulder campus with his older brother Alex, a college student and ex-gang member, high school senior Carlos is not ready to give up his wild ways until he meets a shy classmate named Kiara and becomes unwillingly involved in a drug ring.

Fay has spent eighteen months locked up in a Secure Training Centre. Drug deals and rip-offs are the only things this teenager knows. Now she's back on the street, looking to settle old scores. CHERUB agents Ryan and Ning need Fay's knowledge to unearth a major drug importer. They're trained professionals with one essential advantage: even experienced criminals never suspect that children are spying on them. But Fay's made a lot of enemies and she's...

When James is given the mission of digging up leads on Leon, a small-time crook with big money, James unravels a larger plot than expected with the only person who might know the truth being a deceased eighteen-year-old boy.