Drug Lord, the Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at the Mexican drug cartel
Review: Drug Lord is a pleasure to read even though its message is quite disturbing. Terrence Pappa's journalistic talents are obvious; by focusing primarily on the biography of the Mexican drug lord, Pablo Acosta, rather than directly on the issue of drug smuggling, he immediately engages the reader's interest. Acosta is a fascinating character, reminiscent in some ways of Chicago's Al Capone. However, there is one huge difference: Pappa provides convincing evidence that even most powerful drug lords, such as Acosta, are only pawns in a drug trade that involves the highest levels of the Mexico's ruling party including the brother of the former President and possibly even former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, himself. The rampant corruption in the PRI - the political party that has ruled Mexico over 70 years - illustrates how difficult it will be for Mexico to get its social and economic house in order. This means that we can expect the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs (and they are related) will end no time soon.

Rating:
Summary: A magazine atricle
Review: Drug Lord is a series of news releases tacked together in story form. With a few interesting side trips. Terrene Poppa comes across as a journalist on a quest, but the ending is preordained and the life--drugs-ect.-- (the focus of his book) repititious. Pablo Acosta (drug lord) comes from humble beginnings and rises to power with violence and violence. A lot of people get killed, then more people get killed, and everybody is smuggling or taking drugs and then Pablo gets killed. The Mexican government in corrupt, as are an assortment of Amercan agents, but the two groups play the game, bad guys and good guys. What the book lacks is the first person power when something is written by somebody who actually experienced the life. Poppa is telling this tale from the outside, and while that suffices it leaves the reader with a hazy vision of what really was happening. Amazon thinks my reviews are partial and unfair. They're probably right, I'm too much of a critic. If though you are interested in the subject (drugs, mexico, trailer park violence) you can read this book. It's not bad, just didn't go the distance. I think.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Great story that exposes the ugly corrupt symbiotic elationship between the mexican drug dealers and the corrupt police and army officials. It also carefullly documents the inevitable, reccurring results...Still, with all the access to Pablo Agosta you still feel you really don't know him -perhaps there really wasn't any 'there' there--it was all about power and getting high,and killing the opposition.. There are no heroes in this story, just a grim reality which leads you to the conclusion that the more things supposedly change, the more they remain the same---no solutions offered for that part of the mexican/ american economy living on fumes. . . Oddly enough,legalization (with appropriate controls/education/treament) might offer a long term solution-these stories will inevitably get worse, more violent, and corrupt the very institutions created to suppress the drug lords GOOD Story that should have been told long ago The end was foretold early in the book so there is little suspense at the end--not great writing, but great story

Rating:
Summary: Note worthy book
Review: I felt like I was reading fiction, it is hard to belive this is real life for these people. Mexican drug lord, Pablo Acosta, is a fascinating character, ruthless and violent but still only a pawn in the drug wars. the real show is run by the highest levels of the Mexico's ruling party including possibly former President Carlos Salinas de Gortar. The book illustrates how difficult it will be for Mexico to get its social and economic house in order as long as the PRI is in power.

I also recomend: "A Touirist in the Yucatan" for a fictionalized account of the drug wars.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent insight
Review: I first read Drug Lord, the Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin, two years ago and was amazed by the amount of information the author was able to pack into the narrative without bogging it down. For me, it was like a journey through the looking glass, stepping into the distorted realities of a Mexico run by a perverse and frightening political system. I ended up sympathizing with Pablo Acosta, wishing he would save himself by giving up to the Americans. His misdeeds as a border drug trafficker were eclipsed by the ruthless system of government that exploited him. After reading Drug Lord, the stories I read about Mexico in the newspapers made so much more sense. I read the book again recently and was taken this time by the mature, vigorous and sometimes passionate prose. Some of the chapters are in fact brilliant short stories. It took a great deal of courage for an American journalist to explore this border underworld. Perhaps because of the dangers, no other American journalist that I know of has dared to repeat his noteworthy accomplishment. His work is a classic.