American Desperado Book Reviews

AUTHOR
Jon Roberts & Evan Wright
SCORE
4.5
TOTAL RATINGS
616

American Desperado by Jon Roberts & Evan Wright Book Summary

The true story of super-criminal Jon Roberts, star of the documentary Cocaine Cowboys. 
 
American Desperado is Roberts’ no-holds-barred account of being born into Mafia royalty, witnessing his first murder at the age of seven, becoming a hunter-assassin in Vietnam, returning to New York to become--at age 22--one of the city’s leading nightclub impresarios, then journeying to Miami where in a few short years he would rise to become the Medellin Cartel’s most effective smuggler.
 
But that’s just half the tale. 
 
The roster of Roberts’ friends and acquaintances reads like a Who’s Who of the latter half of the 20th century and includes everyone from Jimi Hendrix, Richard Pryor, and O.J. Simpson to Carlo Gambino, Meyer Lansky, and Manuel Noriega.
 
Nothing if not colorful, Roberts surrounded himself with beautiful women, drove his souped-up street car at a top speed of 180 miles per hour, shared his bed with a 200-pound cougar, and employed a 6”6” professional wrestler called “The Thing” as his bodyguard.  Ultimately, Roberts became so powerful that he attracted the attention of the Republican Party’s leadership, was wooed by them, and even was co-opted by the CIA for which he carried out its secret agenda.
 
Scrupulously documented and relentlessly propulsive, this collaboration between a bloodhound journalist and one of the most audacious criminals ever is like no other crime book you’ve ever read.

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Book Name American Desperado
Genre Biographies & Memoirs
Published
Language English
E-Book Size 10.63 MB

American Desperado (Jon Roberts & Evan Wright) Book Reviews 2024

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Meant to give it five stars. Great book. Couldn't put it down. Thank god I'm done reading it now so I can sleep.

GREAT BOOK. I couldn't put this down. Anyone interested in crime or who loved Cocaine Cowboys as much as I did must read this. This guy has lived a truly amazing life and the fact that he is alive to tell it is mind blowing. I didn't want the book to ever end.

Phenomenal. This is an incredible book. Jon's story is quite remarkable - the guy is fearless, shrewd, and compelling.

Amazing Book!!. Unable to put down. If mafia stories and drug smuggling interests you at all, this book is for you. You get not only Jon's perspective of things, but his cohorts as well.

Wow!!!. This is the most riveting book I've read in over 10 years! If you're a fan of Cocaine Cowboys or just love context read this book!

Accurate. True stories are the best.

American desperado. Read the whole 600 Pages in 3 days. Best book I've read in a long time could noT put down. I hope they make the movie!!!

Does love conquer evil?. This is an incredible story of greed, sadism, corruption, and intrigue that has it all. It's the story of the cartels, the CIA, the congressmen, the hit-men and the despots, all from the perspective of one man at the center of it all who made and lost hundreds of millions of dollars leaving a trail of destruction that is truly shocking. Roberts comes off as a likable and interesting guy and you can see how that charm helped him succeed for decades in the business of smuggling a large portion of the cocaine that destroyed so many lives in the 1980s. In the end Roberts learned to love. Or did he? Was he redeemed by love or was his redemption just another con? We'll never know for sure. One thing is certain, though. Some of the most dangerous sociopaths in this story are the very public officials we have entrusted to lead and protect us. This well written tale left me wondering about the very nature of good and evil and whether and to what degree the seeds of both are inside every one of us. "The Sociopath Next Door" meets "Killing Pablo".

Interesting. This was a page turner. I'm a true crime buff and its always interesting to see how interweaved organized crime is. The cast of characters are familiar to me from other books, but not in this context. It's almost as if very few people control all the illegal things and they are in bed with some very influential people at the same time. Some of the stories seem far fetched and a bit braggadocio but have an air of truth to them. Once you've read enough about these guys, you realize it's nothing like the movies and should not be romanticized. The good thing about Jon Roberts is he admits to evil, he doesn't try and justify his nefarious deeds. Interesting e-book read. I read it within a few days of its purchase so I recommend it if you're into these types of books.

Wow. I've read MANY gangster, and non fiction crime novels, and this is right up there with "The Westies" , and "Black Mass" this is an instant classic, If you think cuz you watched Cocaine Cowboys, you don't need to read this, your dead wrong. This is a well written novel that I just couldn't put down. A must read. It was good enough that it compelled me to write this review, Jon Roberts was a Gangsta!

American Desperado. I am not a big reader. But I could not put this down.

American Desperado. Wow, this was truly a great read. Even if 50% of what Jon says he did in life story is a lie, it still blows away any Scorcese film. This story really gets interesting when Jon lands in Miami about 1/3 of the way through. Amazing how a couple cocaine cowboys could out smart numerous US agencies for so many years. This book will tell you exactly how they did this. Much more involved than the movie "Cocaine Cowboys".

Great read!. Hard to put down!

Awesome. Great book, this guy is a real life Forest Gump of crime

Great book. This is a great book

Great story of the most innovative smuggling operation. This is a great story of the Medellin Cartel from the American side. It is the story of Cocaine Cowboys from Miami and details the American side of the largest smuggling operation in history. It contains the violence you would expect. They cover the cat and mouse game with government and all of the creative ways they managed to stay one step ahead of the government for years. Some people may be surprised by the smugglers cooperation with the government to smuggle arms to Nicuragua, but this has been acknowledged by the government in the Iran Contra scandle. The author does a good job in his attempt to corroborate a story that by its criminal nature is difficult to do. The story is not romanticized or sugar coated, it is an honest look at a career criminal sociopath. Having read the book "The Kings of Cocaine" book that detailed the rise of the Medellin Cartel years ago, this book brought the story full circle by telling the American side of the story. I highly recommend this book.

American Desperado. This is a great book. I did not want to put it down. I recommend watching Cocaine Cowboys before reading the book.

Roberts. This guy is the Forset gump of the drug world

Amazing!!!. Easily one of the best books I have ever read! If you liked Cocaine Cowboys, this is a must read!

More than powder.. Learning more details than what was in cocaine cowboys, and more this was soo hard to put down. But intertwined in it all you may learn something about yourself or others. --Quite frankly.. Jon Roberts is another forest gump kinda of life story. Amazing. Thank you John Riccobuono. You're awesome.

Perfect- imo better than the movie. Never been a book or “novel” person, I enjoy tv and documentaries. Read this more than once since I’ve owned it. Well worth the money

American Desperado. This was the best book I've read in years! Awesome read!!

Great. The book does, in some instances, follow the cocaine cowboy documentary but the details about specific situations really bring to life the era.

Best criminal manuscript I've ever read. Ever since I finished both of Jordan Belfort's novels, I had been feeling somewhat of a void in my reading.... Until I found this. Never since "The Wolf Of Wall Street" series have I been so enthralled by a book. You feel like you're living the life of Jon Roberts. Make sure to have some anti-anxiety meds available because this book is dark. Very, very dark. 5 Stars

Amazing Book. Great read could not put the book down or shall I say the iPad haha!

American Desperado. This was the best book on drug smuggling and illegal activity i ever read. I recommend this book to the highest level.

Awesome!. Can't put it down! The most fun I've had reading a book in a long time.

Great book. Loved it

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Very good read. I recommend this to anyone familiar or curious about the drug trade in Miami in the late 70's and 80's. I only wish I could continue reading and researching stories from this time. Outstanding book. Jon although a cruel person can really captivate an audience with his stories. Evan wright is an incredible author and recounts the words of others perfectly in his books.

Amazing read. I watched the cocaine Cowboys doco many years ago and fell in love with the story and drama. I was always very keen to hear Jon's side of the tale. So when I found this book I got to reading right away. The pages flowed with the same speed and amazing stories that filled the doco. Don't get me wrong if you have seen the films then this is familiar territory. However you do get an amazing back story to some jaw dropping moments in some balls out moments. I have to say though, the sheer gravity of this book is amazing and the implications are unbelievable. If you want to see an "evil" man at work than you have the right book.

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Summary of American Desperado by Jon Roberts & Evan Wright

The American Desperado book written by Jon Roberts & Evan Wright was published on 01 November 2011, Tuesday in the Biographies & Memoirs category. A total of 616 readers of the book gave the book 4.5 points out of 5.

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