Book Review: Escobar by Roberto Escobar & David Fisher

Escobar - Roberto Escobar & David Fisher

Synopsis:
Life for Pablo Escobar was never going to be ordinary. Growing up in the poorest part of Colombia, he dreamed of becoming a millionaire and, eventually, the president of his country. Meanwhile, his older brother Roberto was interested in cycling, hoping to set up his own bike factory and represent Colombia in world cycling events.
Growing up in poverty, with barely enough money to get by, it seemed that the Escobar boys’ dreams would remain just that- dreams.
But as they grew older, circumstances and good fortune allowed them to succeed and see some of their dreams come true (although this wasn’t necessarily through legal means). Soon Pablo was heading a successful contraband smuggling business and Roberto was selling his bicycles to several large stores.
But then Pablo realised he could make more money producing and smuggling cocaine, and that’s when their lives changed completely.
With his drug business booming- especially in America- Pablo enlisted the help of other smugglers, and formed Colombia’s most infamous drug cartel, Medellín.
He also hired Roberto, a qualified accountant, to handle the millions of dollars of dirty money that was coming in.
Soon Pablo had more money than he knew what to do with, and he started to give it away to the poverty-stricken members of his community- helping to enrich their lives, and buying their undying loyalty at the same time.
But there were people determined to bring Pablo down, namely American politicians and the new Colombian government, who were intent on stamping out drug smuggling. With these forces trying to destroy his livelihood, and the lives of many Colombians, Pablo decided to fight back, and so began a war filled with bloodshed and murder.
This is the biography of the legendary Pablo Escobar, as told by his closest confidant- his brother Roberto. This book covers the highs and lows of Pablo Escobar’s life, and details the many things- both good and bad- that he did throughout his lifetime to make him such a notorious yet beloved member of Colombian society.

What I gained from reading this book:
This book was written so that Roberto could tell the world the truth about his famous outlaw brother. He did not write it to clear his brother from crimes committed or to paint a portrait of him as an innocent. In fact, Escobar goes into much detail about some of the unthinkable things that his brother was involved in, and doesn’t pardon him at all for some of the terrible things he did (only saying that if he could have prevented some of it, he would have). But Escobar also heaps praise on Pablo, for being such a kind-hearted soul to the poorer people of Colombia and for showing them so much charity and compassion.
These contrasting views of the same man provide an interesting picture of the outlaw who holds a place in the record books for launching one of the biggest manhunts in history.
This book also proves that people shouldn’t pass judgement on others without knowing the full story. I’m sure that many of the people who were after Pablo Escobar for his drug trafficking had no idea about his ‘Robin Hood’ reputation, given to him by the poorest people of Colombia.

Positives:
Pablo and Roberto Escobar were very close- towards the end of Pablo’s life, Roberto was one of the few people that he could trust. Because of this trust, Escobar was privy to many things that were never revealed to the public about the cartel, the money and the numerous murders and kidnappings. Escobar’s biography elaborates on much of the information known on Pablo, and establishes which rumours were true and which weren’t, while shedding new light on the life of his brother.

Negatives:
The narrative jumps a little bit in this biography- Escobar will be talking about one event that occurs and then, in the next paragraph, might jump several years forward or backward to prove a point (leaving a very fragile link between the two events).
If you’re hoping to read about Pablo Escobar’s life in chronological order, then you could get a little frustrated with this book at some points.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Biography

Recommended for: People who have heard the legend of Pablo Escobar and would like to learn about his life- told from the point of view of his older brother.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: Vamped by David Sosnowski

Vamped - David Sosnowski

Synopsis:
It’s been years since humans lived freely in a world now run and owned by vampires.
The act of hunting and killing humans is long since extinct, and blood production has become a commercial exercise, produced from stem-cells and packaged in juice boxes. In a world full of vampires, the only place one can find a real human is on black market farms that officially ‘don’t exist’, where vampires, for a large sum, can hunt humans au naturale.
So when suicidal vampire Martin Kowalski comes across a six-year-old girl- who presumably escaped from a human hunting reserve- he decides to take the recently orphaned and blood-spattered child home. While he initially plans on making her into a midnight snack, he finds himself charmed by the young girl, who goes by the bizarre name of Isuzu Trooper Cassidy- and allocates himself the role of unofficial guardian. Through the tumultuous years that follow, Marty embraces ‘fatherhood’ and strives to protect Isuzu from the rest of the world, who would tear her apart for a taste if they knew she existed.

What I gained from reading this book:
Despite the fact that most of the characters in this novel are vampires, the author is strangely able to make readers relate to them. This could be because he describes a world very similar to our own, only the characters function at nighttime rather than during the day. Marty holds a job writing memos for the Bureau of Blood Quality (BBQ), and before Isuzu came along, used to frequent bars where he’d watch topless dancers. His mundane life is what led him to almost crash his car and put an end to the boredom of living an eternal life. Isuzu’s appearance in his life brings a glimmer of hope to Marty, initially for the thrill of fresh blood and then for the challenges of parenthood. This novel shows that there is always something to live for, and to use the cliché, that sometimes the best things come in small packages.

Positives:
This novel is extremely entertaining and there are several reasons for this.
The author has managed to create humour in his portrayal of the eternally angry and emotional Screamers (vampires who may be hundreds of years old but are trapped in the young children’s bodies that they were vamped in- never able to look older than they are, and therefore never taken seriously).
As well as this, the character of Marty has a lot on his plate when it comes to dealing with Isuzu, and this helps readers to relate to his character. Marty’s role as a parent is varied, but in short, he has to protect her from other vampires, deal with her hormonal mood swings as she grows up, make sure he has enough human food (AKA pet food) for her while avoiding suspicion about the amount he buys (since he doesn’t own a pet), and generally adjust to having a female living with him who sleeps most of the night and has regular bodily functions that vampires no longer have. This is a story about co-habitation at its most extreme and most amusing.

Negatives:
The humour in this book may not appeal to everyone, but I think most people will appreciate the author’s rampant imagination.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Genre: Black Comedy

Recommended for: Anyone who has ever wondered what life would be like if everybody in the world was undead.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: Monster Planet by David Wellington

Monster Planet - David Wellington

Synopsis:
For twelve years, ever since zombies took over the world, Ayaan and her small band of fighters have been defending what is left of the human race in Africa. Doing overhead patrols in one of the few working helicopters on earth, they monitor the progress of the ghouls heading towards their camp and eliminate any that could be a threat. But one day the group come across a sight never before thought possible- a large group of living humans, working together with the zombies as they trek across the vast African desert. This unusual ensemble is led by the Tsarevich, also known as the Prince of Death, whose supernatural powers as a lich (a zombie who rose again with his intellect intact) are greater than those of any other. Sensing that this may be the only chance for her to destroy him, Ayaan and her crew make an impulsive attack on the Tsarevich’s group, but the stronger forces of the lich win out and Ayaan is captured while many of her crew are slain. Among the surviving members is Sarah, a young woman who Ayaan brought up after she was orphaned at the age of eight.
Sarah feels it is her duty as Ayaan’s young protégée to rescue her from the horrors that await, and if all else fails and Ayaan is killed, to end her ‘life’ as one of the undead. With Osman the helicopter pilot, a ghost and some old revived mummies on her side, Sarah has to face insurmountable odds to save her mentor and friend.

What I gained from reading this book:
In this novel, the viewpoints of some of the major characters change as the action of the story progresses. Views, which were once black and white, now feature variants of grey, and the ideals that were once held are overturned in favour of new concepts about the way that the future should pan out.
This is a situation that often occurs in everyday life, and it is interesting to see how the author can adapt these views to mean the difference between life and death for his characters.

Positives:
This is a story of survival- all of the human characters are fighting to create a world that will once again be safe enough for humans to inhabit, and free of flesh-eating zombies. Even the Egyptian mummies, who have been dead for thousands of years, endeavour to survive the Tsarevich’s discriminating elimination of their ‘race’.

Negatives:
The gory descriptions of the zombies and the methods that the Tsarevich uses to torture and kill his victims are more than a little unsettling at times, but given the nature of the story, this is to be expected. You can’t have a novel about the undead without it featuring some of these themes.
Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Horror

Recommended for: People who enjoy a good zombie novel and who may have read David Wellington’s previous zombie novels.



Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below: