I loved reading this because I’m obsessed with the narco trafficking world and currently re-watching Narcos with Pedro Pascal. It is amazing to me how dangerous it is to be an undercover DEA agent and I’m surprised anyone volunteers to do the job knowing they might not ever make it home again. I loved reading about the steps he had to take to create this back story and undercover identity in order to lure in the cartel leaders.

The only things that I didn’t especially love were the endless amounts of names in the book, and the names were similar and it got a bit confusing. And also the dialogue was a bit stilted and that took me out of the action a bit. But overall, I enjoyed it and was intrigued by everything that happened. Obviously, since he’s wrote this book, Robert Mazur makes it out OK, but even knowing that, I was still skeptical that he would based on the incredible tension in the book and I loved that.

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Sorry, largely reads like a police after action report, heavy on details but light and little in the writing department. Sorry but I moved on at about the 45% mark

The Betrayal has all of the elements of a book that I like. Pablo Escobar, drugs, CIA, drug smuggling and changed identities.

However, the book really was hard for me to finish. The writing was choppy and the plot just didn't flow in a way that was enjoyable to read.

I made it through the first third of this book before having to give up. I just couldn’t follow the author’s meandering any longer. So many names and characters, so much jumping around. And frankly, it just wasn’t that interesting. Sorry!

Robert Mazur is a DEA agent that goes undercover as Bob Baldasare to expose illegal money laundering in the Cali cartel This book details who he worked with, where he traveled, illegal activities he was exposed to, the risks he took, the risks to his life, and the prosecution of the individuals that they were able to expose. He also talks about corruption within law enforcement.

There is a TON of information that he goes through, most of which is fascinating and thought provoking. Some of it is hard to follow, simply because the cartels are something I know about, but not nearly to the extent that Mazur discusses in his book. It felt like there were a lot of moving pieces and I occasionally had to go back and re-read sections of the book to determine exactly what was happening and who was involved.

That being said, I think this book is an important read. As a US citizen, it can be "easy" to pretend that the dark world of drugs and cartels doesn't exist, but it does. It is very real, and I think we should all be aware of it and the implications to society.