Subtitled "How to Smuggle Cocaine by the Ton in Five Easy Lessons", I was hoping I might pick up some sort of business lesson, even if I'm not a drug dealer myself. At the very least I hoped for an interesting story. My hopes were dashed all around.
The book seems to be one extensive interview of a former semi-successful coke smuggler by an Italian journalist. The coke smuggler himself would tell you he was more than successful but being as he's saying that from prison, I'll disagree.
The dealer is full of himself, the interview seemed as if it was lightly edited, and outside of some interesting tidbits, but not necessarily facts, I didn't enjoy it that much. Despite the title, each of the five chapters isn't really a lesson in and of itself. It's just a bunch of rambling about the drug trade from the dealer. The author of the book, an Italian journalist, interviewed the dealer and then appears to not have edited the transcription in the least. Or maybe he did, which would be even more sad.
The book is a reliving of the guy's glory days and he talks about some of the ways he smuggled cocaine which are no longer valid because they've been shut down by law enforcement.
About the only thing good about this book are some of the interesting unsubstantiated claims the guy makes like the "fact" that the drug trade is keeping Florida's banks afloat or that law enforcement officials often buy drug sniffing dogs from the drug cartels themselves. If true, well, yes, that is quite interesting. But how are you going to substantiate the claim?
Given the lack of anything remotely concrete, the amount of braggadocio, and the fact that five chapters does not equate five lessons if there is no structure, I cannot really recommend this book, even if it is short.
--Jon
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