The book is divided in an introduction and three parts:
The Days of Innocence and Dreams;
The Days of Splendor and Terror; and
The Days of Absence and Silence. In the introduction, Virginia Vallejo describes her departure from Colombia on 18 July 2006 in a special flight of the US
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), after she has accused a former senator and minister of justice,
Alberto Santofimio, of instigating the assassination of a former presidential candidate,
Luis Carlos Galán, and after she had offered her cooperation to the
Department of Justice in ongoing high-profile criminal cases. The story begins with the joy and passion of two new lovers – Pablo, an ambitious rookie politician from humble origins, and Virginia, a socialite and media personality, both 32 years old – and continues with the evolution of their relationship and Escobar's personality during his war against the extradition treaty between Colombia and the United States, and the terrorist activities of him and the
Medellín Cartel in their last years. Like a snowball, Vallejo describes the birth and boom of the cocaine industry that turned her lover into a billionaire, thanks to the cooperation of leading politicians; the origins of the Colombian rebel organizations, and the paramilitary squads founded by Escobar and his partners; the assassinations of the justice minister
Rodrigo Lara in 1984, and the
siege of the Palace of Justice in 1985; the suffering of the journalist after she had ended her relationship with the drug kingpin in 1987, and her cooperation with the anti drug German agency
BKA in 1988; the Cuban connection, and the bombing of an airplane with 110 people on board in 1989 (
Avianca Flight 203); the assassination of
Luis Carlos Galán, and three more presidential candidates; the origins of Escobar's war against the
Cali Cartel and the Colombian state, followed by the era of
narcoterrorism from 1988 to 1993; the coalition of enforcement agencies and Escobar's enemies involved in his hunt; and, finally, the worldwide reaction to the death of the Number One Enemy of the United States on 2 December 1993. ==Reaction==