Gangster Warlords

By: Ioan Grillo

Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart

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)

A Culmination of Deep Thought and a Deep Heart

Grillo is not apathetic, and I appreciate that most about his writing and journalism. The thousandth grotesque murder is still a moment a human lived through of utter suffering. We are fellow humans with all those perpetrating and suffering this seemingly intractible violence. Grillo paints clearly how bad it is, but not for shock value or indulging the audience. A thoughtful audience will find many of their questions answered and, hopefully, some courage to hope for a better future. I appreciate most his clarity that this is a generational challenge - for the consumer countries too.

Wow! Incredible!

Well researched and well written. Learned quite a bit and I have been in this field for many years. Great work.

Great book!!

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

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.

Good analysis and interpretation, but...

I have worked for many years as a social scientist in Western Mexico. The description and analysis rings true with a few exceptions. Grillo centers narco activity in Michoacán as if it were only occurring in the tierra caliente (yet his cases jump around the state from the Chapala lowlands; the temperate region; and the tropical lowlands as if they were one in the same.

The narrator also manages to mangle Spanish. It’s remarkable to me that there wasn’t a great narrator available with a good working knowledge of Spanish pronunciation. Otherwise he does a sound job.

amazing book by ioan grillo!

Grillo continues his perfect explanation of these gangs and how we got in this situation

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.

Informative but griddle.

Informative but griddy. A tad too much-repeated violence over too many locations. This 15 minimum is why I just give numerical ratings.

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.

The narrator...

The stories of these gangsters are great but the performance was okay by the narrator but overall I give it 4 outta 5 stars.