Kilo

Inside the Deadliest Cocaine Cartels—from the Jungles to the Streets

By: Toby Muse

Narrated by: Alex Wyndham

For fans of the Netflix show Narcos and readers of true crime, Kilo is a deeply reported account of life inside Colombia’s drug cartels, using unprecedented access in the cartels to trace a kilo of cocaine - from the fields where it is farmed, to the hit men who protect it, to the smuggling ships that bring it to American shores.

"Toby Muse’s tautly written account of his intimate prowl through Colombia’s narco world is both compelling and unforgettable. With Kilo, cocaine now has its own Dispatches. Simply kickass.” (Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker and author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life)

Cocaine is glamour, sex, and murder. From the badlands of Colombia, it stretches across the globe, seducing, corrupting, and destroying. A product that must be produced, distributed, and protected, it is both a harbinger of violence and a source of immense wealth. Beginning in the jungles and mountains of Colombia, it filters down to countryside villages and the nightclubs of the cities, attracting money, sex, and death. Each step in the life of a kilo reveals a different criminal underworld with its own players, rules, and dangers, ranging from the bizarre to the diabolical. The killers, the drug-lords, all find themselves seduced by cocaine and trapped in her world.

Seasoned war correspondent Toby Muse has witnessed each level of this underworld, fueled by the appetite for cocaine in America and Europe. In this riveting chronicle, he takes the listener inside Colombia’s notorious drug cartels to offer a groundbreaking look at the drug trade. Following a kilo of cocaine from its production in a clandestine laboratory to the smugglers who ship it abroad, he reveals the human lives behind the drug’s complicated legacy. Reporting on Colombia for the world’s most prestigious networks and publications, Muse gained unprecedented access to the extraordinary people who survive on the drug trade - farmers, smugglers, assassins - and the drug lords and their lovers controlling these multi-billion dollar enterprises. Uncovering stories of violence, sex, and money, he shows the allure and the madness of cocaine. And how the War on Drugs has been no match for cocaine.

Piercing this veiled world, Kilo is a gripping portrait of a country struggling to end this deadly trade even as the riches flow. A human portrait of criminals and the shocking details of their lives, Kilo is a chilling, unforgettable story that takes you deep into the belly of the beast.

©2020 Toby Muse (P)2020 HarperAudio

eye opening

Would have been happy if it was just about the FARC. Things were much less interesting in the part of the book focused on drug interdiction. However, I understand the need to paint a complete picture.

Great

As a Colombian, it was good to hear somebody saying what we never wanted to hear. It is sad,, but completely true.

A very human story of darkness and destruction

This book is really engaging and beautifully written. In addition to telling a fascinating and terrifying story, it really puts life and death into perspective.

Takes you there

Reading this book, I felt like I was in the jungles of Columbia. Very well written. Definitely worth adding to your library. Can’t wait to get my hands on the hard copy!!

-Ramon From Waco Tx.

Fantastic!!

So good I’ve listened to it twice!! Toby Muse is interviewed on The Underworld podcast, I recommend listening to that as well!!

Interesting and incredible

The level of access and dynamic story telling make this one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I originally heard Muse talk on The Underworld podcast and his level of knowledge made me want to read his book.

From a Colombian to a reader

This is a very engaging story filled with experiences from the author that studied the country and from his vantage point, provided a perspective on the war in drugs. The story is captivating and descriptive, it expands on the process and life cycle of cocaine.

The author struggles to provide data to elaborate his points and at times seems fictional. The country of Colombia is better than what cocaine and drugs show. The development of the nation in the past decades is portrayed as a failure which is extremely subjective.

I am glad I read it but, like everything, is important to take everything with a grain of salt.

Outstanding book

Great book superbly narrated!!
One gets a real feel of the narco world in Columbia

An unwinnable war

A sad story of a paradise turned eternally voilent by the machine of the cocaine industry. The story is well written and contains many first hand accounts of how the narcotic plagues the country of Colombia.

not as advertised

this book has nothing to do with the biggest cartels. the first three chapters are good but then the rest sucks. it goes into the stories of several low level nobodies and just drifts off. a book that had so much potential wasted by a bad writer and an even worse narrator. i will never listen to another book narrated by this "Alex Wyndham" ever again. if you like a pompous arrogant british accent and pronunciation you might like him but being american i could hardly stand to finish this badly botched book. don't waste your time.