Rating: 
Summary: A Worthwhile Read
Review: With greed the motivator and a desire to feed an ego even bigger than the man himself, Pablo Escobar's reign of terror was bound to fall. People like him have their zenith of fame and then the inevitable decline begins. I enjoyed reading the book, but some parts of it got too complicated as far as modern technology goes in locating wherever Pablo happened to be. However, that's my fault, not the autor's. Those working to bring down Pablo, could never be sure who was on his payroll. The words "thug" and "sociopath" both seem to apply towards Escobar. He could speak calmly on the telephone with family members while the screams of those he was having tortured could be heard in the background. The fact that he is gone is a benefit to humankind.
Rating:
Summary: A Serious Account of the Grim Realities of the Drug War
Review: Bowden has done it again. This is not quite the work of genius that Black Hawk Down was but this is a very engrossing and serious account of a manhunt that came to symbolize many of the challenges we face in the drug war. Pablo Escobar was the richest and most powerful cocaine dealer in the world. He acquired pretensions to enter politics and turn Colombia into a personal fiefdom. The United States government allied with the Colombian government in what became a multi-year campaign that was far harder and far more dangerous than any one would have believed when it began.In the end Pablo was dead but the drug trade was as powerful and as profitable as ever. Its center of activity had moved from Medellin to Cali and the newer generation of drug lords had learned a lot from watching (and in fact participating in) the campaign against Pablo. In many ways the Cali cartel became the ally of the Colombian and American governments jointly seeking to get rid of Escobar. This book raises serious questions about the nature of American involvement in the third world. When combined with Black Hawk Down you get a realistic pair of assessments of the limitations of American power and the nature of the grim realities we are trying to change in much of the third world. This is a very helpful but sobering book for anyone interested in the drug war, in America's role in the world or in a recent skirmish with fascinating ramifications.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story but not Bowden's best
Review: As many have and will, I bought this book simply because of how much I loved Bowden's "Black Hawk Down." But while this book had a fairly interesting topic, Bowden was unable to make it into the dramatic thriller that Black Hawk was. While I was generally familiar with the hunt for Pablo Escobar, there was some information in this book that was new to me. The book is entertaining at first, as Bowden recounts Pablo Escobar's rise to power, and his subsequent reign of terror as head of the Medellin drug cartel. But after Escobar "escapes" from the lavish prison he had built for himself, and goes into hiding, Bowden's story falls off. Ultimately the chase for Escobar settles down into a simple, predictable, manhunt for a highly wanted criminal. For anyone who is completely unfamiliar with the United States' efforts to fight drug cartels in Colombia, this book will be more captivating. But for the reader who has some familiarity with the subject this book will be a bit of a letdown.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Summer's Better Reads
Review: I purchased "Killing Pablo" solely on the strength of Mark Bowden's previous stellar work, "Black Hawk Down." While "Pablo" isn't quite up to the standard of "Black Hawk" (one of the best books I've read in the past five years), it is nevertheless an engaging read that is at once informative and entertaining. "Pablo" is Pablo Escobar, the ruthless Colombian drup kingpin who, by the late 1980s, had amassed one of the world's largest -- and certainly most illicit -- fortunes. Mr. Bowden recounts the story of how the notorious international narco-gangster was finally brought to heel by a combination of Colombian law enforcement agencies, the U.S. DEA and Army Delta Force (which provided critical training and surveillance technology), and importantly, Escobar's rivals in the cocaine cartel. The vigilante terrorism visited upon the infrastructure of Escobar's empire by his cocaine cartel rivals (equally as vicious as Pablo himself) -- with the tacit sanction of the Colombian government -- was the critical factor in the eventual tracking down and killing of Pablo following an off-and-on-again three-year manhunt. This book is included in the "Wall Street Journal's" review (Friday, May 18) of the better reads of the Summer of 2001. That judgment gets no quarrel from this reader.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific story! Writing: eh, not so much.
Review: Pablo Escobar was a supercriminal who could put a James Bond nemisis to shame. This guy had and did it all. I mean not only did he get to pick the crime for which he was prosecuted, but he also got to choose the site of and build his own jail, complete with jacuzzi, big screen tv, a harem, and, of course, a cache of weapondry to overthrow a Banana Republic. Why? Pablo Escobar was a ruthless master of manipulating human fear and weakness. Good story! That's why it gets 4 of 5 stars. But I tell you the writing left a lot to be desired. Half the time I wondered if Bowden is a native English speaker. Then later it became evident that he is just plain corny. Stilted prose. Awkward and incorrect work usage. Poor composition. It's all here. Perhaps the blame goes to the editor, but still it's Bowden's name on the cover. Regardless, the towering research and epic battle between high principle and human corruption and weakness wins the day. Hey, there's nothing like a good villian!
Rating:
Summary: Escobar never had a chance...
Review: Bowden's narrative of the Escobar pursuit is truly gripping; it reads better than most fiction in the genre. The story, while very detailed, feels as if there is more to tell. I don't believe this is through any fault of Bowden's investigation or research, since his detail in BLACK HAWK DOWN was remarkable. In all likelihood, some unknown facts - such as the true identity of Los Pepes, the extent of the Bloc's and America's involvement with Los Pepes, the varied means employed by Escobar to constantly avoid capture - may be facts that can never be discovered. An ironic parallel between the two stories is that, although the Mogadishu effort in BLACK HAWK DOWN was a failure and the Escobar "capture" was considered a success, Bowden cleverly asks whether the price paid to eliminate Escobar recharacterizes the effort as something less than a success. Overall, an excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: Informative, yet unfulfilling
Review: For a straight journalistic account of how the U.S. Government joined forces with elements of the Colombian government to hunt down and kill Pablo Escobar, "Killing Pablo" brings the goods. The years long pursuit of the man many considered to be the world's most notorious outlaw was punctuated by epic corruption and fantastic levels of sickening violence. All of this author Mark Bowdon scrupulously documents. The problem with the book is that Bowden has no sources who were truly on the inside of Escobar's empire. This is not surprising given that most of his associates were killed. But without first hand accounts of many of the violent incidents, they become a blur of facts that eventually become mind numbing. By all accounts, Escobar was a cunning and ruthless man, but without first hand accounts, the reader really doesn't get to know him. As a result, Bowden's narrative tends to drag after awhile. Bowden does an excellent job of humanizing the men, both American and Colombian, who were reponsible for Escobar's downfall. But their stories are just not as interesting. Ultimately, at the end of the book Bowden shows just how futile the drug war has been to date. It would be nice to think that the book might help America rethink its drug startegy. But I think that's being overly optomistic.
Rating:
Summary: Bowden writes another excellent book!
Review: I'm a big fan of author Mark Bowden, and have been very pleased with his previous books. This book did not let me down. Bowden expertly retells the life and crimes of Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar, and details the ordeal which led to his eventual death at the hands of the Columbian police. I was vaguely familiar with the Escobar story, but this book had many new details. I was completely unfamiliar with the US involvement in the hunt for Pablo, and this book details the extreme level of US 'assistance' which was offered to the Columbian government. This book was engrossing from start to finish. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Feelings on this Book
Review: I would have to agree with Rudiger's review. Rating this book mainly depends on viewpoint: * Buy just to have something to read? * Buy to learn and reference? * Buy to know and find out what happened. Whereas BLACK HAWK DOWN excelled in all three, "Killing Pablo" excels in the top bullet and less with each one below. Mainly because no one really knew what happened as Rudiger pointed out...and no one involved is really telling. Although Rudiger bought the Audio CD, I bought the book mainly for the first bullet...something to read. First off, for me "Killing Pablo" was hard to put down. I kept reading just to see what happened. It fulfilled the first bullet perfectly. However, if I were to tell someone what happened when and the people involved where and when, it would be hard because of so many names, events, and people. The shortcomings of this book are minor but they do stand out, so much so they make reading, understanding, and learning difficult. Like BLACK HAWK DOWN, there are SO MANY names in "Killing Pablo" that it's easy to get confused and tangled and see who's important and who isn't. All the names in BLACK HAWK DOWN wasn't so bad but I felt "Killing Pablo" was. After all, with all the killings and kidnappings, it's hard to keep track or who's who and who done what. For example: "Joe replaced Jon who was killed and who replaced John who replaced Joey who kidnapped who replaced Bob who was missing who replaced Jose." After a while, you get so confused that names are not important but they are. Another example: Colonel Hugo Martinez lead the Search Party. But his son is also named Hugo Martinez and his rank is lieutenant. Mark uses "Hugo" many times in the book. It gets to the point that it seems everyone involved wants their name in the book as to what they did, no matter how big or how small. But Mark doesn't follow up on the event history of everyone so is that person important or significant to the hunt or not? And the name is there but not what they really did because they're not really telling. I felt the book could use three things: * A timeline graph of events, killings and bombings by week, month, and year * A flowchart of who replaced whom * A list of the names in the book and briefly what they did * A glossary. With so many Spanish terms, not all defined in English, it's hard to know what the term means. * More maps like in BLACK HAWK DOWN. The telling of the events also jumps around a lot in time. Too many "flashbacks." In one paragraph a bomb blew up. The paragraph below: two hours before the explosion John called Frank. Next paragraph..while Frank was speaking to John, Jim in the US was talking to Kris. Next paragraph, one hour before the bomb blew, Jose was speaking with Hugo. All this took place before the bomb blew but the reader already read that the bomb blew and has to read the "flashbacks" to catch up on events (people involved and what they did) before the bomb blew. "Killing Pablo" is a good subject but perhaps not worth the price of hardcover due to the difficulty reading it. Again, it all depends on the viewpoint you're buying it for.
Rating:
Summary: Explosive!
Review: Killing Pablo is a hard-hitting book that truly represents the brutal reality of the war in Colombia. As a Special Forces Master Sergeant with multiple tours in Colombia I can honestly say that Mark Bowden has done a masterful job of encapsulating this conflagration by describing the events that led to the rise and fall of one of its most notorious figures-Pablo Escobar. Bowden starts off by giving a brief history of the war in Colombia, starting with La Violencia, and then of course the current Narco war that is currently consuming Colombia. The events are taken from various sources and Mr. Bowden does a superb job of describing, in detail, what lengths the US and Colombia went through to take down one of the largest criminal empires in history. The book ends with questions that we as American should be asking ourselves. Is it worth the effort - in the name of National Security- to selectively target foreign citizens for assassination? My conclusion is incomplete. However, I will say that the removal of Pablo Escobar was nothing more than a tactical victory in a war Colombia and the United States are losing strategically. This book is a must for Special Operations Soldiers, Latin American Historians, Law Enforcement Officers, and anyone who is involved in the policy decisions concerning the US war on drugs.
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