The Great Pretense - by Bill Conroy (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Great Pretense: A Tour Through the Boneyards of the CIA's War for Drugs offers readers a journey to the boneyards of the CIA's " war for drugs" in Latin America and beyond, with all of its complexities and moral dilemmas. Conroy's book, part memoir and part exposé and thriller, is based on Conroy's lived experience over decades of reporting on national security and the illegal drug trade. It emphasizes the vital role of authentic journalism in a landscape marked with manipulation and deceit by powerful entities, such as the CIA. The book highlights the challenges of investigating the intricate relationship between intelligence operations, law enforcers and narco-traffickers. The book also reveals, with evidence, how the CIA operates in the drug war -- against other U.S. agencies, or with them, and in ignoring or even enabling cartel drug trafficking -- all in pursuit of intelligence-gathering and other opaque national security goals. Conroy's 40-year journalism career has focused heavily on investigative reporting -- as an editor-in-chief, managing editor and reporter. His work has been published online and in print for a range of publications, including daily newspapers; alternative and business weeklies; magazines; and national online publications, such as the Daily Beast, Narco News and HousingWire. He also have appeared in investigative documentaries aired by major networks, including the BBC, CNBC, the History Channel, Prime Video and Al Jazeera-Europe. CIA assets and spies must be adept at carrying out illegal deeds overseas and then covering their tracks. That's because the CIA is breaking laws in any foreign nation in which it conducts espionage or other covert operations. CIA brass, by contrast, must concoct a public image and press narrative that conceals or deflects attention from that underlying illegal clandestine reality. It's spy culture. It keeps the gears of " The Great Pretense" in motion.

Review Quotes

"Absolutely no one captures the folly of the decades-long War on Drugs as thoroughly as Bill Conroy. The story of The House of Death has to be read to be believed. It's also a master class on investigative journalism and why the world still needs it."

--Gregory Berger, journalist, comedian and Mexican TV personality

"Bill Conroy exists in that rarified air of those individuals who are willing to do whatever it takes to follow the truth wherever it leads. This book is not just a bombshell of a story, it is also a timely reminder that investigative journalism is vital to any nation that seeks to hold itself accountable."

--Heather McCuen, writer and social strategist

"Bill Conroy for years has launched himself at this story without fear. He did not shy away from the sword (the government). He is like "el mesquite verde, no se raja" [green mesquite that does not crack]. He went above and beyond his call of duty."

--Cele Castillo, former DEA agent, author and Chicano artist

"Bill Conroy is a true investigative journalist in the tradition of Charles Bowden and Gary Webb -- a man of courage, insight, persistence and eloquence. Dispatches from the House of Death tells a gripping and meticulously documented story about the violence and corruption at the heart of the "war on drugs" in the United States and Mexico. It is vital and deeply unsettling reading for anyone who wants to understand the realities and consequences of our nation's drug policies and border policies." -- Seán Padraig O'Donoghue, writer, teacher and author of The Forest Reminds Us of Who We Are and Courting the Wild Queen "Bill Conroy is an indefatigable journalist, a reporter pit bull who, once he gets his teeth into a story, refuses to let go until the truth comes out. He literally does know where the bodies are buried because he has doggedly reported on the United States' failed drug policy for two decades, and now he brings it all together in this important book."

--Megan Kamerick, KUNM public radio news director; independent producer

"Bill Conroy is among the highly valued investigative journalists. His diligence, integrity and insight come through in this book."

--Richard Berg, past president of Chicago Teamster Local 743 and host of the Fight Back! Radio podcast

"Bill Conroy meticulously presents a grizzly scene, the House of Death, that shows the war on drugs is like most wars: forged by people who seek to gain political or monetary capital and who do not care about those who perish as a result. In this heart-wrenching portrait of American indifference, Conroy asks and answers the questions that those who should have cared refused to."

--R.V. Gundur, author of Trying to Make it: The Enterprises, Gangs, and People of the American Drug Trade

"Bill Conroy's book urges all human beings to take a stand against the corruption spread by the drug trade and a failed war on drugs. The book is going to light fires under all good men and women, law enforcement agencies, and policymakers to wake up and play their responsible roles and reverse this cancerous societal problem. The book is definitely a gift to humanity."

--Mkhuseli

"Bill Conroy's book, Dispatches from the House of Death, explores the shocking and unbelievable true story of an informant on ICE's payroll who was involved in mass murder in Juarez, Mexico, with the knowledge and sanction of officials from ICE and DOJ. Conroy expertly unpacks the subsequent cover-up and follows the trail of victims, perpetrators, and law enforcers involved in the heinous crimes. As someone who has lived, researched and knows Mexico inside out, I found Conroy's account both gripping and enlightening. I couldn't put this book down!" -- Nati del Paso, author of Women of Fire and Snow, and the Jaguar's Calling. "For Bill Conroy of narconews.com, who stood his watch when others turned away and pretended none of this had happened." -- author and journalist Charles Bowden, a dedication from his book Dreamland: The Way Out of Juárez "Bill Conroy's exposing the truth about the so-called war on drugs placed his life and family in jeopardy --not to mention the government's use of intimidation in an attempt to control his reporting. His honestly in reporting impressed me. In my tenure of almost 30 years in federal law enforcement, I have never met a reporter who was more interested in the truth than enhancing his career."

--Ruben Gonzalez, former Associate Special Agent in Charge, U. S. Department of Homeland Security/Office of Investigations, Houston

"Dispatches from the House of Death" that can be repurposed: "This book reads like a murder mystery because it is. The mystery, which Bill Conroy explores with great determination, is why the U.S. government allowed murders implicating law enforcement to go unrepented and unpunished."

--Bill Lueders, journalist and author, former editor of The Progressive.

"If you want to see the down, dirty, gritty details of what goes on in our government in the United States, buy this book. I totally encourage it. I recommend it. I cannot say enough good about the investigative skills of Mr. Conroy. I would rank him as one of the top five journalists of all time."

--Ben Reed, radio personality and Spanish Language Brand Manager at Lee Family Broadcasting Book Blurbs provided to me for

"Investigative journalist Bill Conroy shares his experiences covering the Mexican drug trade and the infamous Juarez Cartel. From his gripping book "Dispatches from the House of Death," Bill describes the site of numerous drug-related executions, and the flawed response of U.S. law enforcement agencies charged with combating organized crime from over the border."

--Ralph Pezzullo, a New York Times bestselling author and the host of the popular podcast Heroes Behind Headlines.

"Just as the writer Virgil sent Aeneas into the underworld with the Sibyl of Cumae by his side, if you're going to Hell, you should always have a guide who knows the territory. In Dispatches from the House of Death, our guide Bill Conroy takes us down into one of the darkest places on earth, the nightmare world of Mexican drug smuggling -- with its unending violence, constantly mutating alliances and corruption so deep that U.S. officials protected an informant who participated in murder after murder at 'The House of Death.'

--Richard Bell "investigative reporter, editor and co-author of Nukespeak: The Selling of Nuclear Technology from the Manhattan Project to Fukushima"

"Khusta" Jack, deputy executive mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and a past leader in South Africa's anti-apartheid movement "In his book Dispatches from the House of Death, Bill Conroy tells the story of an ICE informant who assisted a drug cartel with torture and murders at the 'House of Death' -- and how the U.S. government sought to whitewash that truth. Conroy brings the reader with him to that time and place and provides a clear view not only of the local dynamics on both sides of the border but also demonstrates how an exemplary journalist operates in the field. Conroy's years of experience covering U.S. operatives in Latin America have made him a keen analyst. His book reveals why the U.S.-led war on drugs is such an abysmal failure: racism." -- Natalia Viana, executive director of Agência Pública, Brazil 's largest investigative journalism outlet "It is a giant of a story. There is simply no way to understand the 'war on drugs' without reading this book."

--Al Giordano, author, journalist, and the founder and publisher of The Narco News Bulletin [narconews.com]

"The so-called "War on Drugs" is the longest and yet least understood conflict in the Americas and veteran journalist Bill Conroy is one of the most incisive reporters to tackle this crucial subject. His groundbreaking reporting on the "House of Death" scandal is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand both the hypocrisy at the root of U.S. policy in Mexico and the absolute horror of its consequences south of the border."

--Nicholas Schou, veteran investigative reporter; former editor in chief at OC Weekly; and author of Kill the Messenger, Orange Sunshine, The Weed Runners and Spooked.

"The struggle for justice is universally considered a lofty, worthwhile goal to be pursued ethically and morally in service of the rule of law. Bill Conroy's Dispatches from the House of Death exposes the murderous underbelly of America's war on drugs, where ambition corrupts the rule of law and the American officials charged with pursuing it. It takes integrity of the kind Bill Conroy exercises to shine the light of truth on a failed policy and its devastating impacts."

--Vito De la Cruz, Civil Rights attorney

"This is one of those sweeping conspiracy tales that's easy to dismiss at first blush. Until Bill Conroy delivers a master class in proving it. It's the story of a house turned torture chamber in Juarez, where Mexican police systematically execute enemies real and perceived of their narcotrafficking employers. U.S. agents knew about it all along, courtesy of an informer. Through dogged reporting, Conroy shows how they let the murders continue, then went to great lengths to cover up their duplicity. Part thriller, part exposé, Dispatches from the House of Death savages the moral underpinnings of America's war on drugs."

--Peter Kotz, former editor of the Cleveland Scene

From Patterson Literary Review, Summer 2025: "It's important to know that when Mexican reporters get too close or report the truth they are often murdered. American reporters live in fear of such atrocities, too--but their lives, at least most of them, have been spared. Thanks to investigative reporters like Bill Conroy, Narco News, The Freedom of Information Act and the heart that drives good people--some stay on the beat, uncovering the truth by exhaustive asks and relentless digging. I can tell you there aren't many writers left that would put their life on the line--or put in the time. ...Bill Conroy has written a monster of a masterpiece. We can only hope Conroy's book finds the right home and exposure so it doesn't just sit on a desk--that it is read and re-read and inimitable action is finally put in place."

--Jim Reese, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English and Director of the Great Plains Writers Tour Good Reads Online Review, Dispatches from the House of Death

About the Author

Bill Conroy, M.A. in Mass Communications/Journalism (Marquette University), is a veteran journalist with 40 years of experience working as a staff reporter, editor-in-chief, and freelance correspondent at print and online publications across the United States and in Mexico. His journalism has been cited in more than 35 books to date.