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lspargo's review against another edition
3.0
I found this short book about Chapo sometimes a little too short. Too many names and places to keep straight with the swift writing. I also expected more about the trial, but it was more about the investigation and there was just one chapter covering the trial.
maw539's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This was an easy to read non-fiction book that could have been fiction it is so crazy! It was interesting to read about the long and arduous task to capture Guzman and to eventually bring him to justice. As someone living in a country where corruption is not the norm, it blew my mind to read how popular Guzman was in his country and how he tried to use popular opinion (and bribery) to escape extradition.
graceless's review against another edition
3.0
El Chapo is a pretty gross person who shouldn't be glorified - this book does not do that. But it does give an interesting and what seems to be reasonably thorough overview of the very long, creative and multilateral effort to catch him.
miguelf's review
3.0
Competent behind-the-scenes look of the effort(s) to capture Chapo Guzman. It has elements of the show Narcos for obvious reasons, but there’s some of the more humdrum aspects of the case such as the ways mobile phones were ultimately used with the apprehension.
laurenkd89's review against another edition
2.0
I'll be honest, this book was not very entertaining to me. I chose it because it's half-inside my comfort zone (true crime, "riveting" nonfiction retellings) and half-outside my comfort zone (espionage/military history or thrillers). My experience ended up being more on the "outside my comfort zone" side of the spectrum.
I'm not very familiar with Chapo Guzmán and his work, nor am I familiar with the U.S.'s various missions to "stalk" and capture him. Maybe if I were already more knowledgeable about this topic, the little details - the insider information provided by key interviews with agents, witnesses, etc. - would have been more impressive to me. There's no doubt that this book contains a vast amount of detail, more than has ever been publicly released before. For fans of the story, this is a gold mine. But having never read about El Chapo before, much of this seemed humdrum.
A lot of the story is about the process of the Mexican and U.S. governments intercepting communications within Chapo's network - getting the Blackberry Messenger PINs, getting data from a cellphone software called FlexiSpy, etc. Although I get how huge this is for collecting incriminating information and location data on the kingpin and his staff, it's not very interesting to read about. Again, for those who know a lot about military intelligence and espionage, this is probably fascinating - but I found it a bit dry. Even the more salacious parts of the story - Chapo's escape from Mexico's highest-security prison - were not told in as riveting a way as Narcos tells it. The audiobook was well-narrated, but it just didn't capture my attention as I was hoping it would.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ARC!
I'm not very familiar with Chapo Guzmán and his work, nor am I familiar with the U.S.'s various missions to "stalk" and capture him. Maybe if I were already more knowledgeable about this topic, the little details - the insider information provided by key interviews with agents, witnesses, etc. - would have been more impressive to me. There's no doubt that this book contains a vast amount of detail, more than has ever been publicly released before. For fans of the story, this is a gold mine. But having never read about El Chapo before, much of this seemed humdrum.
A lot of the story is about the process of the Mexican and U.S. governments intercepting communications within Chapo's network - getting the Blackberry Messenger PINs, getting data from a cellphone software called FlexiSpy, etc. Although I get how huge this is for collecting incriminating information and location data on the kingpin and his staff, it's not very interesting to read about. Again, for those who know a lot about military intelligence and espionage, this is probably fascinating - but I found it a bit dry. Even the more salacious parts of the story - Chapo's escape from Mexico's highest-security prison - were not told in as riveting a way as Narcos tells it. The audiobook was well-narrated, but it just didn't capture my attention as I was hoping it would.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ARC!
zachhois's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
It certainly helps put me put my workplace stress in perspective. However, it was just so dry! It wasn’t really what I expected. You have one of the most interesting topics or people in history, and so much of it is focused on their technology. Which, fair. But I would rather have more of their action.
armysoldier33's review against another edition
3.0
If you're looking for the all definitive book on El Chapo, this isn't it. That book hasn't been written and probably won't as long as he's breathing. It was just ok for me, not a bad book but just ok. The narrator does a really good job. I think he probably made it more enjoyable.
rly18's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to this one and the narrator was excellent. In the last 6 months, I've read all 3 books in Don Winslow's Cartel trilogy and binged the entire series of Queen of the South so needless to say this book was right up my alley. I thought the author's research was thorough, however, the book went into SO many details that had I not read the Winslow books and watched QOTS, I would've been lost as to what he was referring to in much of this book. I think i expected more of a psychological and/or criminal justice perspective as to what led to the rise of this drug lord and how did he fall and while there was some of that, the story (for me) got bogged down in too many minute details. If you're picking this up thinking it'll be a gossipy type of read, I think you'll be disappointed. if you're interested in good journalism about an in-depth drug cartel organization, this might be the book for you. Thanks to Macmillian Audio for my #freeaudiobook