El Chapo: The Story of the World’s Most Notorious Drug Lord

by Terry Burrows

The diminutive Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known universally by his nickname of 'El Chapo' ('Shorty' in Spanish), is the highest-profile narco-terrorist since the demise of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s. Loera began work at the age of nine as a gomero - a farmhand harvesting opium - and as he grew up he shot and murdered his way to the top, strewing corpses in his wake. In 2009, he made the Forbes annual billionaires list and before his capture by Mexican marines in 2016 the Sinaloa cartel which he commanded was turning over more than $11 billion in annual sales to North America, supplying more than 10 per cent of all illegal narcotics used on that continent. He became Public Enemy Number One in the USA. This is his story.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 9, 2020

Reviews

[Sophie Rice · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Not great and definitely didn’t wow me. I think the only reason it’s not ranked lower is because El Chapo had an inherently interesting story which is kind of hard to mess up but the author provides no insight into the story that couldn’t have been discovered through a google search.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Stuff 'n' Things

An interesting look at the life of El Chapo and the Mexican drug cartels including the politics and widespread corruption surrounding the drug trade.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a great job to put some 'life' into what could have been a bland story that could easily come across as a text book. The author has clearly done his research and there is a lot of information to digest.

Overall, a very interesting overview of the seedy and dangerous world of the drug trade and my thanks go to Arcturus Digital Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of El Chapo.

[Eala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. So much so that I finished it within a few hours. Thankfully I had the audio copy, so I could listen whilst doing other things! It was a totally fascinating insight into the dangerous and seedy world of drugs. The narrator seemed a bit rushed at times and I really felt it could've been a bit longer, to dig deeper into the subject. However that didn't spoil my enjoyment at all. My sincere thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest unbiased review.

[Laura Newsholme · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an informative and entertaining look at the drug trade in Mexico focusing on El Chapo. Rather than an in depth examination of his rise and fall, the book instead looks at the impact he had on the wider drug trafficking world as well as his arrests, trial and imprisonment. I found the appendices of the book very informative and overall, while this didn't focus on El Chapo as much as I expected or wanted, it was still an enjoyable read.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Michèle Marchand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool inside view of how the Mexican drug cartels work. Book felt a little too short, I finished it wanting to know more details. The writing style was a bit textbook-like, but the content was very interesting.

[Paulina · Rating 3 out of 5]

so many crazy things happened that involved el chapo or caused by him, and yet the author couldn't make the book more exciting. just thought the writing style was bland

[Matt Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very high level and wish it went deeper into details of particular events. It's is a good and interesting overview of the drug trade and cartels however

[Sharon O'Lear-Busse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story, easy read. I just didn’t care for the storytelling / writing style. At times it wasn’t cohesive and I felt like it jump back and for a bit , not following a linear timeline.

[Olivia Bartholomew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but it is written out of chronological order which makes it harder to follow

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book but I had a hard time keeping up with all the names! Very interesting!

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was well-written and I like the way the author broke everything down to the reader. Now is this my favorite type of story? No, and that's the only reason I'm not giving it five stars. Because if a book gets five stars then it's automatically added to my recommendations list at the end of the year and I wouldn't say this is a must-read lol.

But it definitely is IF this is your interest! I learned a lot regarding the cartels AND I also learned a lot about the drugs that the cartels are trafficking. Sure, I'd recommend if this is your interest. But if it's not, then eh.

Burrows you did amazing though. 10/10.

[Daphne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was $1 at Barnes & Nobles so ofc I had to read it. Good discussion regarding different Mexican administrations’ approach to a common problem, as well as the role of widespread corruption within the Mexican military, law enforcement, legal system, and political apparatus. However, I wish there had been a bit more discussion on the demand side — the book mentioned multiple times that none of this drug empire would’ve been possible without a robust demand for the product, but the author never went further than that at examining demand-side dynamics. Additionally, there were a few misspellings (especially of names) that caught my eye.

[gerard2e · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. I knew a little about the drug wars in Mexico but had never read anything specifically about el chapo so for me it was very informative and interesting. A little light in details on his earlier life but I’d imagine that’s because not much is known about that period of his life. I think it was 1.80 for the book so for that price it’s an absolute must.

[Becky P. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty boring book; it's kind of the opposite of the saying, "can't put a book down". Not to mention, there's a multitude of editing issues in this book: typos and words not spaced from commas and periods. My favourite is the start of one sentence with "In 2106". I think the writer meant 2016

[Steve Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting, the jail breaks were amazing stories