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Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw By Mark Bowden ( Penguin (Non-Classics) )
Release Date: 2002-04-02
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $16.00
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Product Description
A tour de force of investigative journalism-this is the story of the violent rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Colombian Medellin cocaine cartel. Escobar's criminal empire held a nation of thirty million hostage in a reign of terror that would only end with his death. In an intense, up-close account, award-winning journalist Mark Bowden exposes details never before revealed about the U.S.-led covert sixteen-month manhunt. With unprecedented access to important players-including Colombian president César Gaviria and the incorruptible head of the special police unit that pursued Escobar, Colonel Hugo Martinez-as well as top-secret documents and transcripts of Escobar's intercepted phone conversations, Bowden has produced a gripping narrative that is a stark portrayal of rough justice in the real world.
"The story of how the U.S. Army Intelligence and Delta Force commandos helped Colombian police track down and kill Pablo Escobar is a compelling, almost Shakespearean tale." (Los Angeles Times)
"Absolutely riveting. . . . Mark Bowden has a way of making modern nonfiction read like the best of novels." (The Denver Post)
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Amazon.com Review
Readers of Black Hawk Down know Mark Bowden can tell an exciting story about as well as any writer at work today. Killing Pablo is further proof. It describes the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, a notorious Colombian drug lord who became one of the narcotic trade's first billionaires. Pablo--Bowden refers to him by his first name throughout the book--started out as a petty thief and wound up running a massive smuggling empire. At his height in the 1980s, he owned fleets of boats and planes, plus 19 separate residences in Medellin, each with its own helipad. Violence marked everything he did: "He wasn't an entrepreneur, and he wasn't even an especially talented businessman. He was just ruthless." He bought off police, politicians, and judges throughout his country, and killed many others who wouldn't cooperate. The Colombian government tried to capture him, but without much luck; he evaded them time after time. "Now and then the police achieved enough surprise to catch him, literally, with his pants down. In [1988], about one thousand national police raided one of his mansions," writes Bowden. "Pablo fled in his underwear, avoiding the police cordon on foot." He got away, again, but his days were numbered. He was making powerful enemies in both Colombia and the United States. The final straw probably came when Pablo's men murdered a popular politician and, three months later, planted a bomb on a plane, killing 110 people, including two Americans. The bulk of Killing Pablo describes what happened when the U.S. government put its resources behind the hunt for Pablo. Bowden describes the search in gripping detail, from the massive electronic-surveillance effort to bureaucratic infighting between rival U.S. agencies. This is an outstanding work of reportorial journalism, too: in the epilogue, Bowden drops tantalizing hints that it was an American--not a Colombian--who delivered the killing shot to Pablo in 1993. Readers looking for a real-life thriller--or any kind of thriller, for that matter--won't do much better than Killing Pablo.
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Not a bad crime story
This book went fast for me. The author's style is fairly direct, which is good given the subject matter (less direct approach leads to bogged down in names and who was where, etc.). On the negative side, occasionally he goes a little too fast and I missed important issues and people. In addition, this book loses a little perspective due to it largely being from the perspective of law enforcement - those who knew Pablo Escobear as associates are largely dead. Overall though, it's like a good piece of crime/manhunt drama.
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Yawn ( joooooan )
Once I begin a book I usually finish it, even if it's not that good.
But I couldn't finish this book. I read about one third and then quit. It was so boring. It was more about politics than drugs. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Doctor Dealer (a great read!).
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Great read about lucifer aka Pablo Escobar
Book was very informative. It did a very good job detailing the time period of Pablo Escobar's rise and fall. Written very neutral and represented both sides of the hunters and huntee very well. A very complex operation during a time that was much different then today. If only we had the capabilities to apply the pressure the columbians used then we could probably capture or kill Bin Laden today. Similar paralles although Pablo's vice was drug trade and money, Bin Laden appears to be religion and hate. Wished the book had a few more pictures that expandeed on the charcters and groups that represented Pablo and those that represented the government. Good book that I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about Pablo Escobar.
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Another Bowden Thriller ( paulocal )
The full story of the life and times of Pablo Escobar: from his early life of crime as a headstone thief to his brutal rise to the pinnacle of the Medellin drug cartel. Most of the story however, is about how the joint military and intelligence Task Force eventually cornered and killed the drug Kingpin. That Task Force, was led by Ambassador Morris (Buzz) Busby, Navy Seal and ex-DCM for the Conference on Disarmament under Ambassador Louis (Lou) Fields (while I served as part of the US delegation with him.)
The US "Delta Force," in conjunction with the Colombian security forces in an operation called "Centra Spike" had to pull out all of the stops to finally locate and kill the elusive fugitive.
Not since "Black Hawk Down" has Mark Bowden written such a gripping thriller. Anyone who liked Black Hawk Down will love this one too.
Five Stars
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Know your history
A must read if you want to really know Pablo Escobar - the history, stats, numbers and some key people. Its so easy to read you wouldn't want to put the book down. Def. check it out!
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