Pablo

Joey Dalicandro

Killing Pablo
by Mark Bowden

" We love you,Pablo" and "long live El Doctor"  echoed through the busy streets of Medellin as the casket carrying Pablo Escobar was brought to the cemetery. A mob of thousands of angry mourners attended his funeral, where they would shout anti-government rhetoric and promise acts of violence as revenge for what they did to their cities savior. This is both a story of victory and defeat, the rise and fall of one of the most notoriously wealthy men to ever live. Escobar's reign of terror would last well over 20 years and earn him a yearly revenue of well over 21.9 billion dollars. At the peak of his reign, Forbes magazine even listed him as the seventh richest man in the world.

Despite his riches, the head of the Medellin cartel got his start exporting oil, vegetables and even coffee. He then graduated to stealing and trading tombstones and then to stealing cars. The rest  happens to be history. He became known for being a daring and ruthless operator. No one in Medellin challenged his authority, he owned the police and the politicians, and everyone who did question him wound up missing or worse. An associate of Don Pablo is quoted for famously saying "He wasn't even an entrepreneur, and he wasn't even an especially talented businessman. He was just ruthless"

This is an enthralling story of greed, corruption, idealism and one mans decent into hell. Moreover it's a relentless quest for justice.

Within this novel author Mark Bowden exposes the once classified account of the 16 month U.S.-led covert man hunt to catch none other than Pablo himself . Including access to the many key players involved in this operation such as incorruptible head of the special police unit that chased Escobar and Colombian president Cesar Gaviria. Author Mark Bowden in his own words describes Escobar in the late 80's and early 90's  as "Public enemy number one in the world".

If you're like me and enjoy both history and biographies than I highly recommend this book for you. My opinion of this novel is high, for which it has a vast amount important history and information within its pages.  I found that the author uses certain imagery and vivid word description to keep the readers attention. Though there is indeed many pages and chapters in this book, the author has kept my attention from start to finish. I highly regard this book for which it has taught me many things about our own government. The story of Pablo's life is edgy and a truly sobering view on moral dilemmas.

I have enjoyed reading the few pages I have read and hope to continue reading. I hope you to will find it as good as I did.