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Summary: Where are the interesting details?
Review: At the risk of echoing every other reviewer, this book falls far short of Bowden's previous effort, Black Hawk Down. Whereas that book provided a unique and thrilling look into a world most of us will never experience firsthand, this book squanders a chance to do the same.The book begins with a brief history of Columbia and the cocaine trade, including the rise of Pablo Escobar. The bulk of the story concerns the efforts of the Colombian government, with the assistance of the United States, to bring Escobar to justice or kill him. There are tantalizing hints that US covert forces were involved in more than an advisory role, but Bowden does no more than hint. In fact, we barely get to meet the soldiers who are involved with the operation, whereas in Black Hawk Down, we knew them intimately. Ultimately, this is the failing of the book; we want to know in greater detail what risks the soldiers faced in their daily hunt for Escobar. We want to be in their shoes as they go on failed missions and finally succeed, but all we get is the same bare facts that could be gleaned from newspaper accounts.
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Summary: Pablo's Demise
Review: Great read! Kind of book you don't want to put down once you start reading. Another excellent book by Mark Bowden. The story of the hunt for Pablo Escobar is just as much about finding him as it is about the problems in Columbia and problems of drugs in America. The author shares with the reader the insights of the men fighting the battles on the ground as well as the national and strategic level direction. Excellent book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Summary: you won't stop shaking your head in disbelief
Review: a great book that makes the colombian police and politicians look like the keystone cops.....druglord pablo escobar basically owned all the power in colombia....he makes more escapes than houdini and kills people as if they were bugs....he then threatens the gov't......this guy's a 10 foot don corleone...then the u.s. gets involved and helps track him down....a great look into how the u.s. special forces work and how colombia's doesn't.....
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Summary: Please spell correctly
Review: For most of the reviewers: "Colombia is spelled with an O not a U " !!!!!!!!!!!! And by the way.. please don't refer to Colombia as merely a "Banana Republic" it's much more complex, fascinating and beautiful than that.
Rating: 
Summary: Well researched, well written
Review: This book reads, in parts, like a Tom Clancy novel, with devious villains, clandestine military operations, and billions of dollars changing hands. In other parts, it's a little dry and detailed. In sum, a fantastic, fascinating look at one of the biggest drug-lords we are likely to ever see and the operation to take him down. Bowden seems to have covered all angles in his research, and put together a documentary work that reads like a suspensevul page-turner. Definitely worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting read, but could have been better
Review: Killing Pablo is an extremely interesting book. It is worth a read. However, Bowden is repetitive at times. In truth, had the book been about 50 pages shorter, it would been great.
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Summary: Excellent Book, Well Researched, Raises Important Questions
Review: While Bowden's latest book is not quite the page turner that his previous work, Black Hawk Down, was it is nonetheless a worthwhile read. Bowden has done a fantastic research job, and presents a well detailed and balanced look at how the U.S. Government set about to destroy the leader of what was then Columbia's largest drug cartel. Most importantly Bowden raises the question "do the ends justify the means." After reading the book it becomes clear that U.S. Embassy officials in Bogota had a pretty good idea that the men they were training in the Columbian Police's Search Bloc unit, were moonlighting as a Death Squad known as Los Pepes. In other words U.S. officials had strong indications that they were facilitating the training of a Death Squad. As long as the Death Squad was killing bad guys, however, U.S. officials seemed content to pretend to hear no evil and see no evil. Of course there was also information to indicate that the Death Squad (Los Pepes) was being paid by Escobar's rivals in the Cali Cartel to eliminate their competition. In essence Search Bloc members moonlighting as Los Pepes were being used as a tool of the Cali Cartel, all with the tacit backing of the U.S. Embassy. Although Searc Bloc and Los Pepes ultimately proved effective in destroying the Medellin Cartel it came with a price tag; the beginnning of the end of the rule of law and the rise of the Cali Cartel. Bowden effectively lays bare the essential question of the whole affair: what did the U.S. achieve by backing one group of thugs to kill another group of thugs? How has this helped with the mission of nation building in Columbia? What does this say about the lip service the U.S. pays to human rights? Do they really care, or only when it is convenient? One has to wonder if the events described in Bowden's book have not played themselves out many more time in many other parts of the world. As to the question of the ultimate effectiveness of the U.S. approach one only need look at the billion plus dollar price tag attached to Plan Columbia, some ten years after the "sucess" against Ecobar. In the end only the former DEA Country Attache, Joe Toft, seems to have realized that their efforts ultimately did more harm than good, quipping "I hope the moral of this story is not that the ends justify the means." Will this scenario repeat itself again? Sadly the answer seems to be yes. So long as callow U.S. counterdrug officials convince themselves that short run "victory" outweighs the long run importance of instilling the rule of law, the notion that countries should be ruled by powerful laws and not by powerful men, many, many, more Escobars will be killed/murdered. Equally as sad, the drugs will continue to flow, and the only casualty will be the cause of Democracy and the Rule of Law.
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Summary: Reveals US Sources & Methods, Weaknesses
Review: I remember being shocked when a book published by a former prisoner of war revealed all of the CIA's sources and methods for secret writing--one reason terrorists and others make photo-copies of incoming and outgoing correspondence these days.... This book provides an excellent overview of sensitive sources and methods used by the U.S. military to intercept and locate electronic transmissions. It specifically "blows" a cover company, two specific kinds of aircraft, and several U.S. Special Operations Forces standard operating procedures. I suspect that NSA and the CIA Centers dealing with terrorism and with crime and narcotics are having the same difficulties recovering from this book that NSA had when President Reagan inadvertently revealed in public that he was receiving transcripts of Politburo cell phone conversations made while in transit, from their car phones. Having said that, I find that the author has performed very responsibly as an investigative journalist, and that his story is superior in every respect. I even find that he has withheld some key information out of respect for his sources,and that there are many lessons to be learned from this book about how we might improve our transnational campaign against non-state forces that have vastly more money, ruthlessness, and sheer people power than we do. I like and recommend this book--it is a real-world story, well-researched and well-told.
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Summary: A preview to the movie "Blow"
Review: If you have seen the movie "Blow", then you must read this enthralling look at the Medallin cartel, ruled by the ruthless, yet soft spoken, Pablo Escobar. How did the cocaine traffic into the US start? How did our NSA, FBI, CIA and asundry other agenices try to deal with it? It absolutely amazed me at not only the choke hold Pablo had on the government of Columbia but also the intricate and violent ways in which he went about doing so. If you were a politician in Pablo's way, then bring out the coffins! Other reviewers have found fault with the authenticity of the book. I found the book to be, at times, too detailed and redundant. But, what I was looking for was the general view of how the US conducts its drug wars outside the US boundaries. And, this gives you an incredible amount of info on that subject. But, man oh man, did Pablo have his act together and did he give the US and the Columbian government a run for their money. Or shall I say, his money!
Rating:
Summary: Well written, not as exciting as Black Hawk Down
Review: Black Hawk Down was one of my favorite reads (in the trash category). I read Killing Pablo on an 11 hour international flight and it kept me engrossed the whole time!
Well researched and written.
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