The Last Narco, Malcolm Beith
The Last Narco, Malcolm Beith
5 Rating(s)
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The Last Narco
Inside the Hunt for El Chapo, the World's Most-Wanted Drug Lord

Author: Malcolm Beith

Narrator: John Allen Nelson

Unabridged: 8 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/07/2010


Synopsis

The dense hills of Sinaloa, Mexico, are home to the most powerful drug lord since Pablo Escobar: Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Responsible for uncountable murders since taking charge of the Sinaloa cartel in the 1990s, and a central figure in the recent surge in drug-related violence and bloodshed, Guzman is among the world's ten most wanted men—and also appeared on Forbes magazine's 2009 billionaire list. With his massive wealth, his army of professional killers, and a network of informants that reaches into the highest levels of government, catching Guzman was considered impossible—until now.

The all-out war between the Mexican cartels has isolated Guzman from former partners at the same time that the Mexican government has intensified its fight to restore order and end the terror. With El Chapo vulnerable as never before, Mexican and DEA authorities are closing in, and journalist Malcolm Beith, a Newsweek contributor who has spent years reporting on the drug wars, follows the chase with full access to senior officials and exclusive interviews with soldiers and drug traffickers in the region, including members of Guzman's cartel. The Last Narco combines fearless reporting with the story of El Chapo's legendary rise from a poor farming family to the "capo" of the world's largest drug empire. Renowned for his charisma as much as for his brutality, Guzman's defiance of authorities and mythical exploits—including his escape from Puente Grande prison in a laundry cart—have made him a folk hero across Mexico.

Through Guzman's story, Beith uncovers the secret history of the Mexican cartels' rise to dominance, from their early years assisting the Colombians to the bloody power struggles and new barbarism of today. Guzman emerges as the last remaining narco of the old mold who ruled by principles and whose capture will signal the end of an era. The Last Narco is an essential book about one of the most pressing and dramatic stories in the news today—a true crime thriller happening in real time.

About Malcolm Beith

Malcolm Beith is a writer based in Mexico City. He has covered the drug war for Newsweek and has contributed to Foreign Policy, World Politics Review, and Jane's Intelligence Weekly. He has also reported from Iraq, Haiti, and Colombia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael on January 20, 2013

I've always been drawn to books, films or television shows about gangs, jails and the criminal underworld. Makes me sound like a weirdo, right? I'm just fascinated by the lifestyle and how such barbarism and violence can exist in the world, and how taking life is meaningless to the criminals involve......more

Goodreads review by Homunculus on March 21, 2017

Leider nur drei Sterne, obwohl das Buch das Potential für mehr hatte. Es geht um den Aufstieg von El Chapo zum damals wohl größten Drogenbaron nach Pablo Escobar und dann natürlich um die Jagd auf ihn. Die ja dann bekanntlich doch erfolgreich war und mit seiner Auslieferung an die USA endete. Leider f......more

Goodreads review by Luis on June 26, 2013

Que libro tan... ¿triste? ¿esclarecedor? ¿bueno? El libro es una investigación (aunque el autor dice que no) hemerográfica que incluye muchas entrevistas de primera mano que muestran mucha de la situación del crimen organizado en nuestro país, y lo complicadísimo que es salir del problema. Gobiernos q......more

Goodreads review by Bliss on October 30, 2010

The book helped me get a better picture of the competing conspiratorial criminal organizations that nearly dominate Mexico, about the wars between these brutal competitors, about the corruption that pervades Mexican culture and why that corruption exists and continues from generation to generation d......more