Salinas, California, is the birthplace of John Steinbeck and the setting for his epic masterpiece East of Eden , but it is also the home of Nuestra Familia. Born in the prisons of California in the late 1960s, Nuestra Familia expanded to control drug trafficking and extortion operations throughout the northern half of the state, and left a trail of bodies in its wake. Award-winning journalist Julia Reynolds tells the gang's story from the inside out, following young men and women as they search for a new kind of family. She also documents the FBI's questionable decade-long effort to dismantle the gang, along with the turf wars it created with local law enforcement agencies. Reynolds uses her unprecedented access to gang members as well as undercover wire taps, depositions, and court documents to weave a gripping, comprehensive history.