(Original recording made in 2001)
Mark Bowden in an investigative journalist. The story of Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel is brutally fascinating. Bowden initially filed these stories as part of an investigative series for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Then he turned his research into this book. For a time Pablo Escobar was the most popular man in Colombia. He was a heroic folk idol to his countrymen, the guy who sold millions of dollars worth of cocaine to the Americanos. As his legend grew as well as his ferocity, he ultimately became the most hunted man in the nation. He had thousands of people killed including anybody who dared to oppose him. At one point he was ordering the assassinations of presidential candidates. He had a commercial airliner blown out of the sky because he thought one of the candidates was on board it. He wasn't.
Escobar died as he lived, in a cloud of red mist. This is a stunning story.
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