Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I was a big fan of the tv series Narcos so I had to read this one when I heard about it. It was fascinating hearing the real life version of how the DEA hunted Pablo Escobar. The details of the story are told in such vivid detail it almost feels like you are there. The author does a great job of portraying the stories and I could totally picture being there.

The story is one that has garnered a lot of interest in recent years and this book doesn’t disappoint. If you are a fan of true crime or the story of Escobar you will definitely want to read this one asap

I think I went into this book wanting more than what I got out of it, for some of the information I already knew and then parts of the book also dragged on. I do know that most true crime books are going to have some drag moments but overall I felt just disappointed in this book sorry to say.

When I saw this book was available, I requested it immediately being a huge fan of true crime especially dealing with the drug war and the mafia. I enjoyed this book. It was very informative. I did feel like waiting half of the book to get to anything about Pablo Escobar was a bit much. It just really kind of dragged for me.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion

This book is real and raw and amazing. The stories inside are almost unbelievable in how detailed and just what went on. Crazy!

I love true crime stories, especially ones like this about cartels and how they are taken down. This story focuses on the careers of Steve Murphy and Javier Peña, how they got started and found their way to being DEA agents, going after drug traffickers and then ultimately ending up in Columbia taking down Pablo Escobar. It was a slow build but I was fascinated with how they got started. This is not a career for me personally but one I love to learn about. It was equally fascinating to learn how long it took to get Pablo and to see how many things had to fall into place to make it happen. It was not easy with that many people on his payroll, but the havoc he caused was immeasurable. This got a bit dry in parts but the audio is really good for these types of books and I recommend it that way to keep you engaged if you need it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-galley to review.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC. I was interested in this book after watching the Netflix series and it did not disappoint! A page turner and a must read if u watched the series

Thank you St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC.

I am always interested in reading true crime / Law Enforcement books especially when they bring down the worlds biggest targets. I found this a fascinating read into Columbia, the drug war and how Escobar was finally taken down. A great job by the LEA’s that worked tirelessly for this to happen and thank you to the agents for sharing their story. I cannot imagine the celebrations that occurred after all your hard work.

While the 2 DEA heroes in this book are definitely 5 star, the book was just a 3 star read for me. The writing and details felt rudimentary which made me feel like I was reading cliff notes of the events of that time. I wasn't able to get a real sense of the participants in this dark history of Columbia. All of the different agencies, however, deserve praise and thanks for the sacrifices they made to do their job.

Manhunters is a great read for fans of the show Narcos. It's fascinating to hear about the work that went on to take down Pablo Escobar. While the show certainly upped the drama as most fictional works do, the real story is equally interesting and I'm glad I was able to learn more about the reality of what happened.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar, the World’s Most Wanted Criminal by Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña is a memoir of the two Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who spent decades hunting drug traffickers. The two authors are the subject of the Netflix show Narcos, which follows their hunt for Pablo Escobar in Colombia.

This is a fascinating look inside the DEA, how they worked this famous case, and their relationship with outside entities. The authors are very generous in giving credit where its due, and not taking all the glory for themselves.

Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar, the World’s Most Wanted Criminal by Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña is written with alternating chapters by the authors. They talk about their beginnings in law enforcement, their time at the DEA academy, their lives in Colombia, and up to the time where Escobar got killed.

The most surprising aspect of this book is how smooth it is. The alternating chapters, written in the point of view of either Mr. Murphy or Mr. Peña flow into a smooth narrative, which makes the book very enjoyable, and not as distracting as I thought it would be.

The authors talk about their hardships during the investigation, and share the credit all around, especially with the Colombian National Police (CNP). Mr. Murphy even goes as far as to apologize for the famous picture he is seen in, which out of context is easily interpreted as who actually got Escobar.

Being that this book is written with hindsight of several decades, the authors seem to forgive the bad decisions their superiors made, and appreciate even more the job the CNP, the CNP Search Bloc unit, Colombian military, and the embassy staff has done contributing to an overall effort to catch a man responsible for thousands of deaths.
They do, however, have a few choice words for the CIA.

Even though the book touched on corruption, I don’t think it went too much into it. This is one fascinating, and I’m sure frustrating, issue that the agents have faced to the top echelon of Colombian government. That being said, being faced with the choice of “plata o plomo” (silver or lead) is not one I’d be happy to make and frankly, there is really no good answer.

I did not expect this book to be as thrilling as it was, especially telling a story I already knew. The authors managed to tell a good story, with personal insights about the hard, and thankless work they’ve done.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Manhunters
By: Steve Murphy, Javier F. Pena

*REVIEW* 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Manhunters is the story of how infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar was taken down. It is nothing short of amazing and fascinating. I was totally riveted from beginning to end. I love true stories that read like fiction. Sometimes reality eclipses any story you can possibly imagine. Pablo Escobar was THE guy, like the founder of a multi billionaire dollar industry, and nobody crossed him. He was the pivotal factor in the creation of the drug trade, especially cocaine, and his legacy lives on, unfortunately. Imagine the amount of people and time and resources it took to stop this guy. If you have any interest in the history and the origin of major drug trafficking, read this book. It is an informative, compelling and thought provoking look at an incredible operation.

If you are a fan of Government Three Letter agencies History. This book is a can not miss book about the men and women who brought down Escobar. The story will show what this case meant to the men and women as well at what happened after the take down and how their lives changed.

Readers will be seeing life thought the eyes of these Manhunters. This is a can no miss story at readers will be hooked by the true events.



Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of Steven Murphy and Javier F. Pena copy of Manhunters.

The author's painstaking research and attention to detail is obvious in the writing of this book. Pablo Escobar's capture was full of everything you would want from a fictional tale, but unfortunately the authors of this book had to experience it. There were prices of several hundred thousand dollars on each of their heads as their investigation intensified. I highly recommend this to anyone that loves True Crime books!

The full title is Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar by Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña. This was released by St. Martin's Press on November 12, 2019. I was lucky enough to get my copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Y'all. Y'ALL. I finished the audio about 15 minutes before my lunch and I was DYING to write about it. Okay, let's go.

For the first time ever, Murphy and Peña tell true stories from each of their lives, and the events that lead up to their take down of Pablo Escobar. The chapters alternate between their viewpoints leading up to the one glorious day when they helped Colombian police eliminate one of the most evil men in the world.

Going into this, I knew he was a bad guy. I didn't know how bad. I was merely a toddler when all of this happened. Escobar was a Colombian drug lord billionaire. He turned Colombia into a war zone as he became one of the biggest drug traffickers ever. He was elusive and seemingly untouchable, despite several different US and Colombian agencies trying to find and stop him.

The stories in this book are so incredible. I loved that we got to learn how Murphy and Peña got to be DEA agents. They hunted Escobar for 18 months despite $300,000 bounties on each of their heads. I don't want to say much more about it for fear of potentially spoiling the feel of the story. Fans of true crime will definitely want to pick this one up. I would recommend this to my non-true crime friends as well. It's an unbelievable story about unlikely heroes and the most amazing devoted police and agencies. I can only imagine just how good it felt to succeed for this phenomenal group of people.

I devoured this book. I can't say enough about it. I have a free copy of it, but this will absolutely be a book I'll buy to add to my true crime collection. Now I need to go binge watch all of Narcos because they were consulted by Netflix for the show. It has to be incredible if these two were involved.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/ 5 Stars

ALL THE STARS. Read this book now.

This was a pretty good book. It was very detailed and gives you a great history of the men determined to bring down a criminal drug lord. It was very well written with a lot of great information. I think the only issue I had was, while I thought it was great that it was in chronological order, for someone born as this was happening (or someone much younger than me), the only thing I really know about Pablo Escobar was a few references in movies years ago and haven’t watched the Netflix show about it, so it would’ve been a little helpful to get some background history on him at the beginning of the book. Regardless, I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Fans of the Netflix series Narcos will be enthralled with this true-life story by the two Escobar Manhunters in their own words.

Working up the Drug Enforcement Agency’s power structure in the 1980s as an undercover agent in Austin and tracking illegal shipments of cocaine in Miami. Javier and Steve, respectively, are soon tasked with rooting out the Medellin Cartel chief, Pedro Escobar, from the depths of Columbia. With hefty bounties on their heads and only the Columbian National Police as their backup, they succeed in finding Escobar. However, what happens after Escobar is extradited to America to face charges?

If you are not that familiar with the Escobar story and especially with how the drug trade worked in the US in the 1980s, Manhunters will be a fascinating look at a completely different and violent world coexisting with the 80s “Greed is Good” philosophy. If, however, you were living through it, there is nothing “never-before-published” within this book. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have grown up knowing the stories of the Colombian drug cartels, of Pablo Escobar, and I remember the news stories when he was killed.

We always hear the story of the criminal. It gets romanticised for movies, they get turned into "heroes" of sorts, and all their evil doings get pushed to the side.

We see the jackets with the big yellow letters on them across our TV screens, but we never hear about the people wearing them.

Manhunters gives us the story of the 2 DEA agents right in the middle of the hunt and capture of Escobar. Steve Murphy and Javier Pena tell their stories from joining law enforcement to the aftermath of the Escobar years.

It is like reading a fictional thriller - except everything happened, even when it seems over the top and can't possibly be true. Their story was the basis of the TV show Narcos, which I watched and loved, and whilst part of that were fictionalised, it gave me a better visual of things as I was reading.

True crime stories can come across as dry reading, however Manhunters was not like that. Javier and Steve's writing had me so interested and involved, so much so that I ate a very late dinner last night as I didn't want to stop reading.

I would love to read more stories like this

Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña's own version of their hunt for Pablo Escobar begged to be written after Netflix aired the hit series Narcos, their story of the hunt for Pablo Escobar. Although from what Murphy has said, as advisers they were able to keep the Narcos on the rails of accuracy. It’s such an amazing story the Netflix writers didn’t really need to do much enhancement..
Manhunters begins with Steve and Javier writing their alternative chapters of their early lives and then their beginnings in law enforcement. They also detailed their beginnings with DEA including their time in the academy. I snickered when both authors mentioned losing weight in the academy. That’s how I met my husband; I needed a scrawny, newly minted DEA agent for a UC visit to a weight doctor. I also patted myself on the back when Javier talked about the role players at FLETC as that is my current job, but at Quantico where the FBI/DEA academies are now located.
Peña and Murphy continued their separate stories on how both ended up in Colombia chasing after Pablo Escobar, one of the most vicious cartel leaders in the world during the 1980’s. Escobar almost single handle turned Colombia into a narco-terrorism state. It was only with the help of DEA and extremely brave Colombian politicians, military and law enforcement that he was defeated.
Not too far into the book, I wasn’t always sure just whose chapter I was reading until I read more from the content. I could no longer tell from the writer, it had melded and smoothed out, less distracting.
I am very impressed about Javier and Steve being so gracious in Manhunters. They tell their stories of sharing the same hardships the Colombian National Police (CNP) and military were undergoing. They claim no special credit, with Murphy even apologizing for the death picture he was in that went around the world that gave the wrong impression of what went down.
They give full credit to the entire DEA organization, the American Embassy in Bogotá, but mostly to the Colombian National Police Search Bloc unit and portions of the military. I do think skirted over some of the very real problems they faced with corruption. “The silver or the lead” is not a choice any of us will ever have to face.
Murphy and Peña are even forgiving of their superiors who manage to make some very bad decisions concerning the two agents.
The one agency Murphy and Peña held in utter contempt for their part in the hunt for Escobar was the CIA.
They also weren’t too sure about portions of the Colombian government as they kept trying to take Escobar into custody on his terms. Silver or lead also applied to government officials. The first time Escobar surrendered was just a few days after Murphy arrived in country and Escobar entered into the luxurious jail Escobar had built to his specification. You can still read the jaw-dropping disbelief in both Peña and Murphy’s chapters.
It wasn’t until after his escape from his own jail that the hunt for Escobar exploded and continued for 18 months. Besides the embassy and DEA, Seal team six and other military units were also in country. Not much cooperation with DEA.
Murphy and Peña tried their best to account for the thousands of deaths during Escobar’s reign; assassinations, car bombs, kidnappings. Oh yeah, lets not forget the downing of an Avianca flight. I think the numbers were just too incredibly overwhelming to always be accurate. Colombian cops were worth a $100 a pop, life was cheap for the sicarios, the young assassins from the desperate Medellin slums. They were a new breed of killer, first used by Escobar, then later utilized by Cartels from favas and slums throughout Mexico, Latin and South America. Steve and Javier’s death contracts were worth hundreds of thousands. However, the kidnapping, torture and death of Kiki Camarena in Mexico and then the US response seemed to serve as an object lesson to Escobar so he didn’t push too hard for their deaths.
The book also entailed some of Steve and Javier’s personal lives in Columbia. More so Steve since he was there with his intrepid wife, Connie. Not so much of Javier’s life, since he was a single guy in a country with stunning women.
Manhunters is a coherent, exciting and stunning telling of the hunt for Pablo Escobar. A story told by men who knew it best and represented the US in the best, most honorable ways.
When I worked as a Special Agent for a southern state’s narcotics bureau in the eighties I practically frothed at the mouth any time someone said drug use was a victim-less crime. Reading Manhunters you will understand why. If that doesn’t do it for you, ask me.
Thank you to NG for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

3,5*-4*

Manhunters:How We Took Down Pablo Escobar by Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña is published on 12th November with St. Martin’s Press/ Headline.

Having watched the Netflix Narcos series, I was really delighted with the opportunity to read this new memoir from the individuals whose lives became part of mine as I sat completely engrossed in the series. Although the series was partially fictionalised, the underlying story remained the same

Murphy and Peña were lead DEA agents in bringing down the powerful Columbian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. A man both feared and revered in Columbia, Escobar became almost a Robin Hood type figure for many, especially in his own community of Medellín. His method of business, the horrors he inflicted on so many made him a very dangerous and frightening individual.

While the US authorities kept up their battle for extradition, the DEA worked hard on both the American and South American borders to bring down these vast drug empires but their network and power stretched so wide, making it an almost impossible challenge. As evidence was being gathered, the fatalities increased. Escobar was everywhere. His word infiltrated from the highest levels down, making it virtually impossible to track him down. Columbia witnessed devastating deaths, unnecessary lives lost and numerous assassinations of top officials. There was a risk to any, no matter their position in society, who stood up to the many cartels, in particular to the renowned Medellín cartel headed by Pablo Escobar.

Murphy and Peña started their careers in the States with the local police, dealing with local crime at a local level, but both had a hunger, an ambition to do more. The book introduces us to their backstory and how they found themselves chasing down drug lords on the streets of Columbia. It’s a fascinating look at their career. Both are quite different, yet their strive for justice and truth and their fight against a pervading evil created a very successful working dynamic and a close friendship.

The lives of Murphy and Peña were very much at risk as they hunted down Escobar, but in 1991 Columbia had a reprieve when Escobar handed himself over to the authorities…but with conditions. These same conditions allowed him to live a relatively comfortable life secluded in a prison of his own design. He continued to reign terror under the noses of the authorities frustrating those who wanted to take him down completely. The following year, Escobar escaped his ‘prison’ and the search continued again for this seemingly all-powerful and influential man.

Murphy and Peña, working closely with a select group of Columbian special forces, continued their relentless search and in 1993, the reign of terror inflicted over a country was ceased when the Columbian police gunned down Pablo Escobar. Neither DEA agent was present but their hard-work and persistence over the previous months and years greatly contributed to the downfall of this man, Pablo Escobar.

Manhunters is written by Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña in alternating chapters, giving the reader an insight into their lives over the years. It is a book heavy on facts but it also recounts the personal stories and the sacrifices made by these two very brave individuals. My only gripe with the book is that, at times, I found myself skimming a few sections as I felt the writing could have benefited from a stronger pen. The story of Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña is a fascinating and hair-raising tale, but did the book do their story justice? Have I been influenced by the action I saw on screen?

Manhunters is most definitely a read for any with an interest in the war on drugs, a campaign started by Nixon in 1971 which was followed in 1973 with the creation of the DEA. It is a challenging and disturbing read but it is also the truth as witnessed by two very courageous and heroic men, Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña.