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Sharks
A risky reportage of the modern city’s streets and its dark markets.
‘I can be guilty of getting caught up in things. Once I focus on a goal, I find it hard to let go of the race to get it. But right now, I’m having to consider the very real possibility that my search for the truth beneath this city is going to get me hurt. This situation has become way too unpredictable for comfort …
‘I start asking questions. How do you do this? How do you get away with it? How much money do you make from it? Who supports you? Who resists you? And what happens to the people who resist you?’
Curious about the modern love affair with criminal personalities, investigative reporter Conor Woodman spent four years exploring the hidden depths of dynamic cities across the globe. Sharks takes us on a journey through the lawless backstreets of cities as diverse as Mumbai, Bogotá, New Orleans, Barcelona and London. In each he uncovers the people and the scams that keep the global black economy moving.
From dice games in steamy southern states to torture in British suburbs, from the sharp end of currency counterfeiting in Buenos Aires to the terrible truth behind antique forgery in the Middle East, Conor investigates who really runs these cities, who they are exploiting and what local corruption allows them to thrive. A truly hair-raising read.
‘I can be guilty of getting caught up in things. Once I focus on a goal, I find it hard to let go of the race to get it. But right now, I’m having to consider the very real possibility that my search for the truth beneath this city is going to get me hurt. This situation has become way too unpredictable for comfort …
‘I start asking questions. How do you do this? How do you get away with it? How much money do you make from it? Who supports you? Who resists you? And what happens to the people who resist you?’
Curious about the modern love affair with criminal personalities, investigative reporter Conor Woodman spent four years exploring the hidden depths of dynamic cities across the globe. Sharks takes us on a journey through the lawless backstreets of cities as diverse as Mumbai, Bogotá, New Orleans, Barcelona and London. In each he uncovers the people and the scams that keep the global black economy moving.
From dice games in steamy southern states to torture in British suburbs, from the sharp end of currency counterfeiting in Buenos Aires to the terrible truth behind antique forgery in the Middle East, Conor investigates who really runs these cities, who they are exploiting and what local corruption allows them to thrive. A truly hair-raising read.
7 pages, Audio CD
Published May 14, 2017
4 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
Conor Woodman
11 books22 followersConor has been a producer/reporter/presenter in factual television for many years (Scam City, Around the World in 80 Trades, Watchdog) and has written several books.
His latest book CALL TO KILL is his first novel, written with co-author Billy Billingham, star of C4's SAS : Who Dares Wins.
Prior to Call to Kill, Conor wrote The Adventure Capitalist (Pan Macmillan), which tells the story of how he left his job in the City, sold his London flat and embarked on a round-the-world trading adventure. Travelling through four continents over five months, he turned his hand to making a profit out of everything from camels in Sudan to inflatable surfboards in Mexico, to discover how real people make real money in real markets.
Conor's second book Unfair Trade deals with how ordinary people around the world survive at the bottom of the supply chain. By living alongside miners, farmers, factory workers and fishermen from Africa to Asia to Central America, Conor tells the stories of the real people on whom the global economy depends. Unfair Trade was long listed for the Orwell Prize.
His third book, The Scam Hunter takes us on a journey through the lawless backstreets of cities such as Mumbai, Bogota, New Orleans, Mexico City and Jerusalem as he uncovers the people and the crimes that keep the global black economy moving.
When not writing, Conor continues to make films and TV. True Appaloosa, his first feature length documentary film, premiered at the Sun Valley Film Festival in 2015 and aired on BBC4 as 'The Secret Horse’ to wide critical acclaim.
His latest book CALL TO KILL is his first novel, written with co-author Billy Billingham, star of C4's SAS : Who Dares Wins.
Prior to Call to Kill, Conor wrote The Adventure Capitalist (Pan Macmillan), which tells the story of how he left his job in the City, sold his London flat and embarked on a round-the-world trading adventure. Travelling through four continents over five months, he turned his hand to making a profit out of everything from camels in Sudan to inflatable surfboards in Mexico, to discover how real people make real money in real markets.
Conor's second book Unfair Trade deals with how ordinary people around the world survive at the bottom of the supply chain. By living alongside miners, farmers, factory workers and fishermen from Africa to Asia to Central America, Conor tells the stories of the real people on whom the global economy depends. Unfair Trade was long listed for the Orwell Prize.
His third book, The Scam Hunter takes us on a journey through the lawless backstreets of cities such as Mumbai, Bogota, New Orleans, Mexico City and Jerusalem as he uncovers the people and the crimes that keep the global black economy moving.
When not writing, Conor continues to make films and TV. True Appaloosa, his first feature length documentary film, premiered at the Sun Valley Film Festival in 2015 and aired on BBC4 as 'The Secret Horse’ to wide critical acclaim.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 25, 2017
Thank you Goodreads for sending me this book. What a great read. Tales from the big cities around the world, where crime, scams, exploitation and seedy encounters are demonstrated in broad daylight and dark corners. The author goes in search of the people involved from the bottom to the top, in an effort to find out how the systems work. Generally, he finds them without great difficulty, but often find he gets in deeper than he intended, with his life at risk in some scenarios which seem to escalate from a simple street crime with an individual to the organised thugs higher up the crime ladder. The book is well written, with some of the shady characters he meets brought to life by the vivid descriptions. I enjoyed the book and the tales are often shocking, but only because they need the author curiosity to gets the better of him, especially when he is fully aware of the dangerous situations he will get himself into. A very brave man who takes investigative journalism to the edge, and sometimes almost over it.
June 14, 2017
An intrepid journalist decides to investigate criminality in many of the world's cities. Conor Woodman has an uncanny knack of getting himself into suitably awkward situations and finding those who try to rip us off. Fascinating and scary at the same time. A really good read but also reminding us that at the edge of this type of criminality is also darkness whether it is drug addiction, sexual exploitation and rape or alcoholism.
May 29, 2017
I won this book on a goodread giveaway. This is not my usual style of book but I was well impressed
The novel reads like a documentary into the shady underworld of large cities and it showed me how
naive and gullible I am . I am passing this on to other family members we all need to be aware so I would highly recommend a browse
The novel reads like a documentary into the shady underworld of large cities and it showed me how
naive and gullible I am . I am passing this on to other family members we all need to be aware so I would highly recommend a browse
June 12, 2017
I received this signed book on Goodreads. It's not my normal type of book, but I was intrigued by the title. It opened my eyes to not only crimes that take place around the world, but those closer to home. I found it one of those books you can't put down. Well worthy the read.
May 26, 2023
This book reveals how unsuspecting normal people become the target of crimes by those who objectify other human beings as only a means to extract money from. I'm genuinely shocked to hear testimonies of people who clearly don't have *any* conscience and how I myself have been very close to being in danger in some cases. However, there seems not to be a 'gray area' when it comes to what one chooses to do with his/her life, opportunities, and talent. i.e. Lying, acting, torturing, threatening, coercing, and killing people can not be a job description!..
This book really lets you take a peek into what happens in the shade behind all the lights of big cities. One can never be fully prepared, but more people need to learn this reality.
Being drunk and having fun in a bar will never feel the same.
This book really lets you take a peek into what happens in the shade behind all the lights of big cities. One can never be fully prepared, but more people need to learn this reality.
Being drunk and having fun in a bar will never feel the same.
November 12, 2019
Undercover investigations of criminals around the world. "it's a jungle out there".
July 21, 2024
I can see this book as an anthology series. Each episode focuses on another scam and they all tie it together in the end to reveal one big global network of criminals who get away with it.
Rating system:
5 - Absolutely loved it!
4 - Enjoyed it / Interesting read
3 - Good / It was okay
2 - Could be better / Wasn’t that interesting
1 - Why did this even get published?
Rating system:
5 - Absolutely loved it!
4 - Enjoyed it / Interesting read
3 - Good / It was okay
2 - Could be better / Wasn’t that interesting
1 - Why did this even get published?
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews