Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw [Paperback]

Readers of Black Hawk Down know Mark Bowden can tell an exciting story about as well as any writer at work today. Killing Pablo is further proof. It describes the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, a notorious Colombian drug lord who became one of the narcotic trade's first billionaires. Pablo--Bowden refers to him by his first name throughout the book--started out as a petty thief and wound up running a massive smuggling empire. At his height in the 1980s, he owned fleets of boats and planes, plus 19 separate residences in Medellin, each with its own helipad. Violence marked everything he did: "He wasn't an entrepreneur, and he wasn't even an especially talented businessman. He was just ruthless." He bought off police, politicians, and judges throughout his country, and killed many others who wouldn't cooperate. The Colombian government tried to capture him, but without much luck; he evaded them time after time. "Now and then the police achieved enough surprise to catch him, literally, with his pants down. In [1988], about one thousand national police raided one of his mansions," writes Bowden. "Pablo fled in his underwear, avoiding the police cordon on foot." He got away, again, but his days were numbered. He was making powerful enemies in both Colombia and the United States. The final straw probably came when Pablo's men murdered a popular politician and, three months later, planted a bomb on a plane, killing 110 people, including two Americans.

The bulk of Killing Pablo describes what happened when the U.S. government put its resources behind the hunt for Pablo. Bowden describes the search in gripping detail, from the massive electronic-surveillance effort to bureaucratic infighting between rival U.S. agencies. This is an outstanding work of reportorial journalism, too: in the epilogue, Bowden drops tantalizing hints that it was an American--not a Colombian--who delivered the killing shot to Pablo in 1993. Readers looking for a real-life thriller--or any kind of thriller, for that matter--won't do much better than Killing Pablo. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The author of the bestseller Black Hawk Down, which depicted the U.S. military's involvement in Somalia, Bowden hits another home run with his chronicle of the manhunt for Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. He traces the prevalence of violence in Colombian history as background, then launches into the tale of the dramatic rise and fall of "Don Pablo," as he was known. Packed with detail, the book shows how Escobar, a pudgy, uneducated man who smoked marijuana daily, ruthlessly built the infamous Medellin cartel, a drug machine that eventually controlled much of Colombian life. As Bowden shows, the impotence of the Colombian government left a void readily filled by Escobar's mafia. While not ignoring the larger picture e.g., the terrible drug-related murders that wracked the South American country in the late 1980s and early 1990s Bowden never loses sight of the human story behind the search for Escobar, who was finally assassinated in 1993, and the terrible toll the hunt took on many of its main players.. There's a smoking gun here: Bowden charges that U.S. special forces were likely involved in helping some of Colombia's other drug lords assassinate perhaps more than a hundred people linked to Escobar. There's no doubt, according to Bowden, that the U.S. government was involved in the search for Escobar after a 1989 airplane bombing that killed 100 and made him, in Bowden's words, "Public Enemy Number One in the world." This revelation highlights one of Bowden's many journalistic accomplishments here: he shows how the search for Escobar became an end in itself. (May 8)Forecast: Bowden will go on a monster tour (about two dozen cities) to promote this BOMC selection, which also has its own Web site (www.killingpablo.com). Expect healthy sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Bowden, a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, presents a gripping saga of the search for and death of Pablo Escobar, the notorious Colombian drug czar. Bowden, whose Black Hawk Down was a National Book Award finalist, chronicles the horrendous crimes and terrorist acts perpetrated by Escobar and his cartel. Escobar's acts were so frightening he kidnapped, tortured, and killed all those (and their loved ones) who stood in his way that he held the entire country in fear. For many years, he eluded capture with his plata o plomo (silver or lead, bribes or bullets) approach. Finally, with the help of covert U.S. Army operatives and the CIA, the Colombian task force on the trail of Escobar was able to locate him. Along the way, as Bowden shows, a shadowy vigilante group was targeting Escobar's associates and family members. Recommended, especially in light of current cinematic interest in subject. Karen Saudlin Silverman, Ctr. for Applied Research, Philadelphia
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Journalist Bowden, who uncovered the savage idiocy of the Battle of Mogadishu in the best-selling Black Hawk Down (1999) and the rage and the glory of professional football in Bringing the Heat (1994), delivers a gripping investigation into the U.S. government's role in bringing down Colombian cocaine kingpin and terrorist Pablo Escobar. Bowden's investigation relies on eyewitness accounts, interviews with soldiers and field operatives, and legal documents. He centers his story on the volatile world of drug trafficking and the equally volatile response of the U. S. government through its War on Drugs. Bowden's insights into Colombia, "a land that breeds outlaws" through a culture and a landscape that are both bandit-friendly, provide the context for the parallel stories of Escobar's rise to power and the U.S. government's frustration over its inability to staunch the torrent of drugs. That frustration led to the first Bush administration's launching of a covert military and espionage operation to assassinate Escobar--a project that resulted in the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars and the loss of hundreds of lives. One of the most fascinating aspects of this book is Bowden's depiction of the small-scale, military-centered intelligence launched in Colombia--spy tactics that detail what parts of target buildings are vulnerable, for example, or the habits of the human target that might leave him alone and exposed. A harrowing investigation into the cost of both drug trafficking and the War on Drugs. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The first title from Atlantic Books, Killing Pablo pins their ambitious trade credentials firmly to the mast and should make their rivals just that little bit nervous. Charting the rise and fall of Colombian drugs baron Pablo Escobar, Bowden's account is firmly in the factual bestseller mould: contemporary, colourful and addictive. Escobar's career was an extraordinary one: he was an elected member of parliament, and built roads, houses and hospitals. He was a hero to the poor. He was also "the richest and most powerful criminal in history", head of a brutal crime organisation holding a country to ransom. The efforts to bring Escobar to justice involved covert action by US Special Forces and intelligence services and is a story which, until now, has never been told in detail. Bowden had access to highly classified documents to compile this authoritative account, as well as secret surveillance footage, wire tap transcripts and he interviewed all of the major players in the case. The result is a colourful and absorbing account of true crime, corruption and an international manhunt, written with excitement and flair.. Pablo should prove a trade killer. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

On July 22, 1992, drug lord Pablo Escobar walked out of the luxurious prison he built for himself and disappeared into the Colombian jungle. His audacious escape destroyed the nation¹s tenuous cease-fire with its infamous narcos, and pushed it into open war with the Medellin drug cartel.

Over the coming days and weeks, the United States would launch a joint military and intelligence operation with the Colombian government, assembling a team of expert personnel and an arsenal of state-of-the-art weaponry and surveillance technology the likes of which the world had never seen. Their mission: to track down Pablo. But this time, nobody was interested in capturing him. This time, they intended to finish the job.

This time, they were going to kill him.

Killing Pablo is the inside story of the brutal rise and violent fall of Colombian cocaine cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar, whose criminal empire held a nation of thirty million hostage--a reign of terror that would end only with his death. In an intense, up-close account, best-selling author and award-winning journalist Mark Bowden exposes the never-before-revealed details of how U.S. operatives covertly led the sixteen-month manhunt.

Drawing on unprecedented access to the soldiers, field agents, and officials involved in the chase, as well as hundreds of pages of top-secret documents and transcripts of Escobar¹s intercepted phone conversations, Bowden creates a gripping narrative that reads as if it were torn from the pages of a military technothriller. At every phase, he brings to life the men who brought the drug lord down. There is the Colombian president, Cesar Gaviria, afraid for his life and the future of his nation, who is forced to do the unthinkable: allow a foreign military to operate within his country¹s borders. There is the U.S. ambassador, Morris D. Busby, who brings in the most sophisticated surveillance team in the world, code-named Centra Spike, and the best team of manhunters, the mysterious Delta Force. And there is the leader of the Colombian forces, Colonel Hugo Martinez, an incorruptible man who lives under constant threat during the drug lord's reign-and whose own son plays a critical role on the fateful day when Pablo is finally found.

Bowden's last book, the New York Times best-seller Black Hawk Down, was hailed by critics (David Halberstam called it "a brilliant book, a heartbreaking story wonderfully well told--it's everything I admire") and became a finalist for the National Book Award. In Killing Pablo, Bowden's reportage achieves a new level, his narrative an epic scope. Action-packed and unputdownable, Killing Pablo is a tour de force of investigative journalism and a stark portrayal of rough justice in the real world.

Rough Justice in the Real World

Pablo Escobar: By the end of 1989, Escobar was forty years old and the most powerful criminal in the world. He had killed police chiefs, judges, presidential candidates, and Colombian Supreme Court justices, and even shot a commercial airliner out of the sky. To the men of America's secret counterterrorism community, the ruthless 'doper' from Medellin had become a clear and present danger.

Colonel Hugo Martinez: Heading the search for Pablo was a job Martinez had never sought or desired. Nobody wanted it. It was considered so dangerous that the national police decided to rotate the command monthly, like a hot potato.

A Victim of Los Pepes: After the frustration of the first six months, the manhunt needed to shift gears. If Pablo stood atop an organizational mountain that consisted of family, bankers, assassins, and lawyers, then perhaps the only way to get him was to take down the mountain. That¹s when the death squad Los Pepes appeared, killing as many as six of Pablo's associates every day. Los Pepes were so perfect they were...well, too perfect.

Mark Bowden is the author of Black Hawk Down, Bringing the Heat, and Doctor Dealer. He has been a reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty-one years and has won many national awards for his writing. Bowden has also written for Talk, Men's Jo --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Journalist Mark Bowden presents a short biography of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and tells the story of his pursuit by the Colombian and U.S. governments. Bowden reads this abridgment well. As the author, he understands the pace of the events described, and reads, overall, appropriately. Much of this book focuses on the chase, calling for a more rapid pace, and Bowden never leaves the listener hanging. Anyone interested in drug policy, Latin American politics, or law enforcement will find this book informative. M.L.C. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.