Pablo Escobar: Beyond Narcos

I was going to purchase Mark Bowden’s KILLING PABLO, but Amazon had the Kindle edition of ESCOBAR: BEYOND NARCOS by Shaun Attwood on sale. I was familiar with Bowden’s book, but not Attwood’s so I immediately had buyer’s remorse after buying it. The buyer’s (or reader’s) remorse didn’t last long. As soon as I started to read ESCOBAR: BEYOND NARCOS, I was hooked. I found it to be well-written and informative.The book is not entirely about Pablo Escobar. It delves into the origin, history, and usage of cocaine. The involvement of big pharma companies in developing and promoting cocaine. The role of politicians such as HW Bush, his son Jeb Bush, General Manuel Noriega, etc. and the CIA, DEA, ATF, etc. in the trafficking of drugs into the US. The tracking down and killing of Pablo Escobar by those same agencies and the US military is an eye-opener.The book explains the raise and the organizational structure of the Medellín and Cali cartels and the conflicts between them. The brutality and indiscriminate violence, death, and torture inflicted on those who crossed the path of the drug cartels and those trying to defeat them (paramilitary death squads, cops, military) is nothing more than sadistic and inhumane.The book does make occasional reference to the NETFLIX series NARCOS to point out fact vs. fiction. I’ve never seen NARCOS so watching it before reading the book isn’t necessary. I am, however, planning to binge watch NARCOS since the book has gotten me interested in it.

On vacation, I hoped to get a chance to read this book. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. The scope of the information is staggering. Attwood’s research encompasses the history of cocaine. He puts the rise of Pablo Escobar in the context of the black market created by our drug laws, without which Pablo would never have been able to capitalize and wreak the mayhem so vividly described in this book.Each chapter had me gripped from start to end. The characters were well-developed, and I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the elite hostages Pablo kidnapped, and the priest Father Garcia, who brokered Pablo’s deal to surrender himself to the prison he built for himself called the Cathedral.The sickening violence associated with the black market in cocaine will never end until our futile drug laws are revised. The Mexican cartels are a prime example. That’s why this book has particular relevance for this day and age.

So I picked up this book and decided to read it just to kill time and 2 minutes in I was hooked! I read the whole book in one sitting! Attwood does a fine job on giving Escobar the actual human qualities he possed by going into his upbringing background and how "robin hood" of a fellow he was with using his wealth to actually help and better communities. At the same time you get a good look at the messed up world of drugs and a really thought provoking view of how America could have actually been a lot more involved then the government wants you to think.This book actually taught me a lot of information I didn't know about Escobar, the government, and the Colombian drug ring. I'm really glad I gave this book a read 10 outta 10! Great job Shaun Attwood!!

I listened to this book on the audible.com program so I could tell that this book is duplicated in very large swaths in the second book of the series, AMERICAN MADE. Sourcing of material is difficult if not impossible and that was a disappointment, particularly since I have been reading other materials about Escobar, contradictory material. I wanted to read the source to compare. I cannot recommend this book because it did not do much to allow me to know more about Escobar. I returned the hard copy of the book as useless to me. Now I am considering returning the audible.com books because I do not need them in my library.

Having watched Narcos and after reading the books by Pablo’s son and Mark Bowden, I moved onto this one, which is original in its perspective of the war on drugs. None of the others confronted the role of the corrupt US government and the CIA. In Pablo’s son’s second book, which came out after this one, he finally details his father’s relationship with the CIA, who were complicit in cocaine trafficking to finance wars against communism in Nicaragua and central and South America. Perhaps that’s the reason why Pablo’s son’s second book is only available in Spanish. This author goes where the rest have not. For those who like war on drugs stuff, I recommend his entire war on drugs series.

This is the most detailed book I've read about Pablo Escobar. It gives alot of insight into his life and history of The Medellin Cartel. It's also is a MUST OWN for anyone studying Colombian history or anyone that wants to learn more about the Netflix series "NARCOS"I learned alot and now know the TRUE story of his rise/fall. I loved every page and was hooked from the first chapter. Shaun Attwood does a great job with this one... The whole series of these books I find so fascinating. I can't wait until Book 3 of his "War On Drugs" series is released. I own this one, American Made, and the Cali Cartel. All of which are tremendously written and truthful. This book and series gets a solid 10/10 from me. Definitely one I'll be reading again.

Attwood makes all kinds of wild claims (Bush 41 ordered the hit on Barry Seal, Bush 41 ordered a hit on Ross Perot, Clinton accepted drug money to let Arkansas be used to funnel cocaine) without any actual concrete evidence or, as evidence, he tells the reader to read one of his other books. The author just seems to hate America and writes the book that way, going off on rants that had nothing to with Escobar (comparing the death toll from Operation Just Cause to the 2003 invasion of Iraq). He paints the picture of characters like Manuel Noriega being ousted as an unfortunate pawn who fell out of favor with the US, yet fails to mention it was actually Noriega who declared war on the US first.His writing style is weak and the he wrote the book like he's trying to remember what better, well-sourced books say and falling short.

A pleasant antidote to the deification of murderous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, 'Beyond Narcos' is a solid rebuttal that focuses on the good and bad of Senor Escobar. It's the old thing of 'he loved his mother, he looked after the poor and he slept with an image of Jesus nearby' - except Escobar is a ruthless killer whose means of torturing those who let him down is particularly grisly. However, 'Beyond Narcos' expands to world to include other characters from the cartels at the time along with interesting examinations on the sad corruption that afflicted Colombia at the time. BUT...there can be no doubt where the author sits on the 'legalise drugs' debate. And it is here that the book verges on a polemic with the author continuing this glorious idea that if only it was legal and regulated, people like Escobar would just go off and get honest jobs. Its a popular narrative without any attempt at providing the very real counterpoint of just what would happen if a society already struggling with alcohol abuse would fare when new opiates are openly on the market. Yes, sales of Mars Bars might go up, but at what cost. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating read for the most part and shows how complicit the US great and good, from politicians to, especially, celebrities are in keeping the trade buoyant.

What a read! One of the best books of this genre I have ever read. What a waste of an intelligent man. But the appalling US government , I always knew all politicians are dirty but not to this extent! I know there's money to be made in war but this was something so very much worse. Between Pablo and the US government, give me Pablo every time - at least he did some good for Colombia. An excellent book very well written

Unless you've been sleeping for the last 20 years and no nothing about Pablo, this story has been done and done and done. It's basically copied from other books. I might try that myself as one seems to get away with it these days. The author writes well but copies all material so unless you know nothing about the subject then spend your money on better works about Pablo

Have read and watched a fair bit about Pablo's life, and this is a very good read and quite the accurate representation of the man Pablo was and his rise to power, as well as demise. Very good read

This book is explosive... Literally!!Having heard a lot about Escobar, I was intrigued about this book.I still don't know how to feel about it all, so much corruption, and shocked at the involvement of the U.S Government!!In a world with no trust, what else is left?A riveting read, eye opening!!