Adolfo Constanzo was the leader of the Narcosatanists, a group of people who trafficked drugs and participated in occult rituals. Constanzo was a practitioner of Palo Mayombe, an African religion that involves the sacrifice of animals. Constanzo met up with some others, and together they operated a business based on the practice of Palo Mayombe. They charged people decent sums of money for what boils down to good luck charms. People would pay for his magical/religious knowledge to bring them good fortune in family or business dealings. Constanzo began raiding cemeteries for body parts, placing them in a cauldron. The Narcosatanists believed the spirits of the dead whose parts were bubbling in the cauldron would protect them and bring them fortune, and eventually decided to add parts from live human sacrifices to the mixture. This led the gang to kill upwards of 20 people for parts. During their rituals they would drink from this fermented, festering slime in the cauldron as a way to gain power and prestige. Police were determined to find out what happen to an American student who was kidnapped by the Narcosatanists, which uncovered a lot more than they bargained for.

This book was very interesting. I learned a lot about a religion I had never heard of, which I liked. I am always interested in learning about other cultures and religions. I can say with certainty that I would not wish to drink anything out of any cauldron with fermented corpse parts. I had briefly heard about this group from a podcast I used to listen to on Spotify, called Cults. I also believe this was mentioned on another podcast that I used to listen to, The Last Podcast on the Left. This was thoroughly researched and provided a lot of information about the case and all those involved. I am sure my roommates at work loved all the faces I was making at this book.