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Publisher's Summary

In a ranch south of Texas, the man known as The Executioner dumps 500 body parts in metal barrels.

In Brazil's biggest city, a mysterious prisoner orders hit men to gun down 41 police officers and prison guards in two days.

In Southern Mexico a meth maker is venerated as a saint while enforcing Old Testament justice on his enemies.

A new kind of criminal kingpin has arisen: part CEO, part terrorist, and part rock star, unleashing guerrilla attacks, strong-arming governments, and taking over much of the world's trade in narcotics, guns, and humans. What they do affects you now - from the gas in your car to the gold in your jewelry to the tens of thousands of Latin Americans calling for refugee status in the US.

Gangster Warlords is the first definitive account of the crime wars now wracking Central and South America and the Caribbean, regions largely abandoned by the US after the Cold War.

Author of the critically acclaimed El Narco, Ioan Grillo has covered Latin America since 2001 and gained access to every level of the cartel chain of command in what he calls the new battlefields of the Americas. Moving between militia-controlled ghettos and the halls of top policy makers, Grillo provides a disturbing new understanding of a war that has spiraled out of control - one that people across the political spectrum need to confront now.

©2016 Ioan Grillo (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

Critic Reviews

"Grillo's investigations into the cokehead brokers, dealers and professional killers who manage the supply and demand of cocaine involves him in a degree of danger.... An absorbing work of reportage." ( Daily Telegraph)
"Grillo is a breathtakingly intrepid reporter, diving in where police fear to tread, seeking out men who wouldn't hesitate to kill him.... A grim, gripping book." (Francis Wheen, Mail on Sunday)

What members say

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Audible.com.au reviews
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No Reviews are Available
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  • Sharon
  • 05-08-2016

The worst narrator for the book

The content of this book is fascinating, fabulously written and compelling. Providing a narrative for emerging economies that should be required reading for any politician wanting to make a change. BUT it is abysmally narrated. What possessed the producers to use this plummy, over the top British voice. It's sounds like it's been narrated by an outdated aristocrat and not a journalist familiar with current affairs. I should've rather bought the book!

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

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  • DAMIAN
  • 10-07-2018

Interesting Twist And Turns

The narrator was awesome the insight into other worlds poverty stricken environment was eye opening this is a mist have to make other cultures and races know the world is not flat its round just because you ate dinner last night doesn't mean everyone else did ....

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  • alex
  • 16-02-2018

Infamous facts

The journalists/writer dod great job researching and conducting interviews. I enjoy the more current events than other books on the same topic. Will keep my attention on this author.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 09-11-2017

Great book!!

In depth look into the world of drugs and gang wars of latin america, highly recomended!

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  • odySEA
  • 24-07-2017

Masterfully written

Breaking the story by country and focusing on a kingpin made this incredibly easy to digest and follow. This is a great sequel to El Narco.

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  • Glenn L. Mcdonald
  • 26-01-2017

Very Insightful

This is a very insightful stirring narrative. The grittiness of the stories and brutality of it all is quite jarring. I found it to be engaging and also thought provoking. It is a look into a world that we wouldn't otherwise see or know about and the clarity provided with that look is top notch. I 100% recommend.

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  • Joaquin
  • 21-10-2016

Good until the end

I enjoyed the book's straight talk, until the author put his own commentary on how to fix the problems. I disagreed, but I can understand where he's coming from when he has seen the ultra violence. Overall a very good informative book.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 28-09-2016

very thorough , but he was a boring reader

Just wasn't into it. was very thorough and had a lot of 3rd party stories, but was bored by the reader.

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  • Andre Theron
  • 11-08-2016

Eye opener

Keeps you bound astonished.
Remarkeble insight by Mr Grillo and he let's you experiace

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  • Nick Anderson
  • 26-01-2017

the greatest insight you could have!

phenomenal delivery and more depth into a secret world that would be impenetrable to the normal person

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

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  • Mr
  • 02-10-2017

Intriguing, enlightening and horrifying.

I honesty thought Grillo might have been pulling my leg at some points in this book. Such as when he described the written litanies of prayer members of one Mexican drug cartel say to their founder, or the fervent socialist selling rocks of crack to the people he claims to be fighting for. But a few minutes on google confirms all these to be true, adding surreal colour to the doleful litany of murder and torture that forms the backdrop to all the people and groups he profiles, and is careful not to glamorize.

He also does an excellent job of conveying to someone who comes from a completely different world, why these loathsome bands of thugs and predators often enjoy a surprising degree of support in the communities they blight. Thriving not only through fear, but by offering a ghastly alternative government to impoverished people who feel utterly abandoned and betrayed by the authorities.

This book is well researched (at obvious risk to the author and many of his sources), well told, and opened my eyes to a world I knew little about. It's a depressing commentary on the western media that we hear almost nothing about a whole slew of countries that are in a state of de-facto civil war between gangsters and government.

The one slight criticism I have is that I would have liked a smattering of global context to get a better idea of whether this is a phenomenon more pronounced in Latin America than elsewhere.

Narrator is also very good.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Jon
  • 22-04-2018

Fascinating.

Incredibly compelling book. Grillo has a very engaging style which really drills into this hugely complex subject. He offers an immense amount of detail which supports his reasoning and conclusions.
I will be picking up his earlier work asap.