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But the telling of the story itself in this book is much less than it could be. great book, incredible subject.My only hang-up is the author's story-telling style. And for that reason alone I have to give the book 3.5 stars. A good example of an excellently-told story with similar subject matter is the book Inside Delta Force by Eric Haney; Bowden's story-telling skills pale in comparison to Haney's. Bowden does a much better job of telling a story in a logical, easier-to-follow timeline in Blackhawk Down, but in this book he jumps all over the place, and doesn't do the best of jobs in keeping the reader aware of the timeline of events. Bowden's fact-finding in regards to covert operations is incredible, he certainly has access to information that no other author has, and for that alone this book is well worth a 5 star rating.
Pablo started his criminal career with petty theft and eventually progressed to carjacking, drug trafficking, and eventually murder. The Colombian police took his wife and daughter. I would recommend this book because it is a book that is interesting and keeps you wanting to know more about Pablo's situation. Killing Pablo, By Mark Bowden, is a compelling story of how the Colombian police and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) track down the world's most notorious cocaine Kingpin Pablo Escobar. I recommend this book to people who are interested in man hunts, and drug cartels. He was being tracked by Colombian police and the DEA who were listening on his conversations.
He would have pilots carry 750,000 dollars of cocaine a month. There were massive raids of his 4 safe houses and every time he got arrested he would be freed. Pablo killed many innocent people to send a message that he is a force to be reckoned with and will never stop. Pablo bombed a plain leaving Colombia as a message that no one would mess with him, and since there were 2 American passengers on the plane the United States considered him a threat. The special operations task force was involved in the manhunt.
Mark Bowden starts the book off in Medillin, Colombia in the 1970s - 1980s, talking about the drug war in Colombia starting with Pablo's rise as a drug lord. His fellow Kingpins started to betray him by helping the police and eventually he was found.I learned how important it was to find Pablo Escobar in this book. His shipments were being intercepted by the DEA and he was losing money. His drug trafficking extended from Colombia to America were he made most of his money. After the United States got into it every thing started to crumble for Pablo.
Pablo was hugely influential in his lifetime and had no idea how he was able to impact and influence so many people (aside from the obvious). Certain people make a huge impact on others, not always for the good.
I mean, I skipped reading both my NY Times and Wallstreet Journals for 3-days to read this book. Both sides in the Mexican drug war are using the playbook that originated in Columbia. This book started out slow for me considering the force that was Black Hawk Down. By the way, the way events unfolded in Columbia; the drug lords influencing events; inept, flaccid and corrupt government; indiscriminate and unspeakable murder and mayhem on one side being confronted by heroic and unimpeachable citizens does that sound familiar-Mexico. In the end, the good guys win because good always triumphs over evil. However, after the first 20 pages you can't put it down. Riveting, the writing just demands your attention.
Finding him was very difficult, as Pablo had a great deal of money and friends to assist him. A fascinating story that shows that no matter how rich or feared a person can become, eventually they will have to answer for their actions if and when they overstep certain boundaries of our society. A great read, with about a dozen or so photos, about one of the richest and most notorious criminals in history. But, with persistance and determination from those who were tracking him, he and his cartel were slowly and methodically destroyed. Pablo did this, and the book's front cover graphically shows the price he paid. The book briefly describes Escobar's rise to power, with the majority of the story focusing on the efforts of both the U.S. and Colombian governments' to track and kill him.
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