The Cartel: The shocking true crime story of Ireland's Kinahan crime cartel

by Stephen Breen, Owen Conlon

The No.1 BestsellerThe definitive account of the rise of the Kinahan gang and the deadly feud that shocked a nation and brought the gang to the edge of destruction.__________February 2016. A daring gun attack in the Regency Hotel brings Dubliner Christy Kinahan and his international criminal cartel to a horrified public's attention. Kinahan's son Daniel, the target of the attack, escapes. A trusted henchman dies at the scene. And the deadly rivalry between the Kinahans and the family and associates of the veteran Dublin gangster Gerry Hutch becomes all-out war. It results in a never-before-seen level of international cooperation - including Irish, UK and US police forces - to topple the Kinahan gang.The Cartel offers a unique behind-the-scenes account of how the Kinahan organised crime organisation got so big, and why a local feud sowed the seeds for the gang's destruction. __________'It's incisive, it's intriguing, it's fascinating' Ryan Tubridy'Fascinating!' Keith Ward, FM104

Genres: Irish Literature, True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Drugs

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 27, 2017

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

for anyone who wants an overview of the feuding families at the heart of Ireland's drug trade, their history, and a summary list of the various garda seizures and murdered henchmen (and innocent bystanders)

not much depth beyond that, most individuals are lightly sketched, and even main players are treated as single dimensional villains, not much on social and legal issues driving the problems or on the motivations of those involved

[janna (taylor’s version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️! This was very intresting!!

[Ronan O'Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s obvious a tremendous amount of research went into this book. However I found it hard to read. Apart from the grim subject matter the way it was written was difficult to understand. It was very factual giving names, dates and locations of meetings or activities of the cartel member. Then it would talk about gardai and Spanish equivalent. That was all very formal. Then it would flip and start talking about cops and the thugs. It felt very much like it wanted to be a formal record of events and used correct terminology then change to colloquial terminology in the next paragraph. I found that very hard to keep track of. I’m not familiar with the names of many of the gang members but this book just seemed to be dropping names and dates too much to the point where I ended the book not really remembering the main narrative because I was so overwhelmed with unnecessary details throughout the book.

[Anna Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very well written, it was quite a long story. It covered all the drug gangs in the Irish Republic. At times it was terrifying for me to read, it's not the Ireland I left 50 years ago. The drug gangs fighting for being the best and in total control. Life is not important to the head of the gangs. Once they become paranoid (They take Cocaine) their is no stopping them getting people eliminated. They hire hitman. If you did not know it was true, you would think you were reading fiction. I do not know how the Gardai of the country cope. The gangs are similar to Mafia untouchable. They buy properties abroad in order to launder the money. They live in extreme luxury in Spain. There were a lot of gangs, and names to remember. I am glad I read this book, and would recommend it. It was very sad for myself especially for the country I left behind 50 years ago.

[william connolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book

I have never read a book about Irish gangsters before but was very impressed with the way the authors have portrayed these villains. The writer's have obviously done their research and are very well versed in the subject. I have read hundreds of true crime books in my time but I was really fascinated with these ruthless families. I am determined to find out the outcome of this story as the update is surely to see them all get their comeuppance. Excellent

[Джордан · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read, well written for the most part but I felt the book barely scratches the surface regarding Christy Kinahan and his organisation. I wanted to know more about his early years, studying languages and operating a con man. However this book reduced such information to a few pages and I suspect this because its a hodge podge of news articles that have been written elsewhere rather than genuine research. I guess we will have to wait until the authority's investigations have been concluded.

[Menna Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

whilst i appreciate the large amount of research that clearly went into this book, i only made it about halfway through. the storyline itself was interesting to learn about however, there were so many names, and company titles, and police names, and gang related factual sentences that i often found it really hard to keep track of. maybe i would benefit more from reading an overview, as this also didn't really mention any of the societal damage, and seemed to have a villainous approach on all the characters

[Annemarie O'Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of these types of books, especially the ones cantered around Irish crime. They fascinate me. I watched the BBC Panaroma special on Daniel Kinehan this year and I’m so glad I read this book. At times I did find it confusing but overall it is a really good read. These people live insane lives. The guards have their work cut out for them

[Johnny R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

Very interesting and dangerous account of the Irish drug cartels. Didn’t realise how bad it was till I read this book. I enjoyed the book however I found it a bit repetitive going back and forth. Wasn’t a page turner for me.

[Damien Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative read of facts over flourish.

[Micky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely brilliant I stayed up till 3 in the morning reading it. I was watching the weigh-in live on Twitter when it actually happened so couldn't help but follow it.

[Claire Whittaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard reading

Interesting read but a little confusing with the timeline jumping backwards and forwards. No real conclusion. Slow read for me

[gareth cahoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The show must go on

Great read and in-depth to the criminal under world. Well written and researched a very easy book to follow keep up the good work

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. Still a few chapters to be written in this particular story

[Diane Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!
STAGGERING amounts of money involved!