Greatly written book about life of a man who started as a soldier in Italian mafia and ended as a most influential American member of Colombian drug cartel. Book contains everything a good action title need: murders (plenty), sex, bribes, smuggling, CIA, top secret government operations. It describes many anecdotes from live's of people who became very rich too quickly: putting gold teeth for beloved dog, sending favourite dish to friend using Air Forces aircraft or sailing a motorboat to another country to buy delicious bread.It reads very fast and I've found it pretty difficult to put it away on the shelf so there were some sleep deficiencies during this reading :) There is so much I like about this book and much that did not sit well with me. Evan Wright tells us the story of the rise of the Cocaine Cowboys and the rise of Miami as the drug capitol of the USA. He tells this story mainly through the eyes of one of the original cowboys. The story is in two parts that run parallel with each other. We get an insight into the life of the cowboy post prison as the author spends a lot of time with Jon Roberts as he is told his tale. The second part is the life of ?Jon as a ruthless crime boss in which money is never a concern.Both story arcs intertwined well together and told a highly interesting story of excess, greed, crime and violence. This book delivered the high quality of journalistic investigation that I have come to expect and love of Evan Wright. What I did not like about this book was how he let Roberts drift off on tangents and the right way to inflict pain on someone. The first one had some merit as it let you see just how much a sociopath he was. But after that all it did was to allow Roberts to stoke his own ego.Overall Evan Wright has delivered another great book that lets you look into the other side of society. He has a great knack of bringing the reader into the world of the subject matter he is writing about. Apart from my earlier quibbles I would still recommend this book without hesitation.
fantastic journey into mind of a remorseless criminal - great read, reprehensible guy
—kassie
Wasn't the best book I've read, but interesting with a lot of repetitive statements.
—Totiana
A fascinating tale, well written, and definitely enjoyed all the side stories.
—james
VERY detailed...almost too much. But it is a very interesting read.
—lostinsomepages
Great great book
—candy91
