Author Terrence Poppa has a background in journalism, private investigations, and Islamic studies. As a journalist, he wrote a biography of a Mexican drug trafficker: Drug Lord, the Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin, now in its third edition. Netflix's Narcos producers purchased the dramatic rights in 2018 and made extensive use of the book for Seasons 1 and 2 of their Narcos: Mexico series. Using a pseudonym, he wrote two books about Islam, giving him the expertise for a realistic portrayal of the terrorists of Cauldron of Wrath.