Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not as gripping as Black Hawk Down
Review: This one was fun but lacked the pace and sense of ferocious drama that was BHD. A good read but if you are expecting it to be as riveting, you'll be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Great story, but something missing
Review: Bowden tells an amazing story, no doubt about it. His story of the rise and fall of the Escobar cocaine cartel is a fascinating narrative with stories of murder and terror that seem larger than life. With Killing Pablo, Bowden takes the reader into the a world of drug lords, CIA agents, and a Columbian police force and government that seemed wrapped around Pablo's finger. All the elements are there for a great book, and Bowden, in his usual style, delivers a well written compelling story. My one criticism is that Bowden barely gives the reader a larger perspective of his story other than "on the ground" accounts of the hunt for Escobar. Bowden does not give the reader a perspective of Pablo's place in the drug industry, who his competition was, the impact his cocaine had on the streets of America, and whether his pursuit and death had any measurable benefit to anyone but the other cocaine cartels. I always found that I wanted more information when I was reading this book. It is also clear that Bowden did not have sources who were close to the internal dealings of the Escobar cartel, which is a noticable hole in the book. Its a good book, fun to read, highly enlightening, but also limited in scope to the actuals events on the ground in taking down Pablo. I think I was looking for something closer to the movie "Traffic" that looked at the drug trade and Escobar in a wider context.
Rating: 
Summary: Killing Pablo in a Nutshell
Review: I read the book Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden and I would definitely have to say that this would be my book of choice if I had to choose one from the past year. The book describes in detail the events that happened in Pablo Escobar's life and how he went from the slums of Colombia to the most powerful drug lord in the world.The different literary techniques that were presented throughout the book enhanced the story line and the added details made it very interesting. Each chapter or section of the book was told by a different point of view. I think that this technique made it much easier to actually see how many different people Pablo and his illegal business effected. For example, some of the chapters were told by the various law enforcement groups and explained what exactly they were doing to bring Pablo Escobar down. At the same time, another chapter was told in the Pablo's mother's point of view, which made the reader realize what kind of background Pablo came from and all about the people who actually did care about Pablo as a person rather than for his power or drugs. Much of the slang and vocabulary tended to make the story go by slower just because of the difficulty to read. Because of this factor, I would have to recommend this book to a more advanced or older audience, so that they can fully understand the book. Overall I would definitely recommend this book because of the unique way it is written and the interesting but true story it presents.
Rating:
Summary: not bad...
Review: I found this book to be imformative and interesting. In other reading about the Medellin cartel, it has been difficult for me to find a book that is not dry or not full of over dramatic hollywood descriptions. though this book sometimes has a tendency to get a little too flowery at times, it generally stays on track and delivers the reader and interesting, yet somewhat objective look at Escobar. great for a reader who is not very familiar with the subject of Colombian cocaine distribution and smuggling...
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: This book is interesting for the same reason "The Sopranos" is interesting: a book about a topic that is cloaked in secretive, violent, and exciting imagery. But the actual accounts are vague, told from the standpoint of second, third, fourth-hand accounts. After all, a lot of people died in the cartel wars.
At one point in the book, Bowden does basically say that the book was spawned from his researching the ordeal in Somalia that led to "Black Hawk Down." The same people doing surveillence in Africa were that same that were in Medellin watching Escobar. That leads me to believe this topic was an afterthought, and Bowden is milking the agents who were working both Medellin and Somalia for all the books they are worth.
But, this book is entertaining, but as for historical accuracy, only Escobar would be able to tell us the truth, and he's not talking.
Rating:
Summary: Killing Pablo - GREAT BOOK
Review: From reading other reviews I decided to purchase this book. The reviews could not have been more accurate. This was an excellent read. I have not read Black Hawk Down, but I cant imagine it better than this. This was a fascinating and TRUE account of Pablo. READ THIS BOOK
Rating:
Summary: Another good one from Bowden
Review: Bowden has done it again with "Killing Pablo" where he takes us through the violent history of the most notorious drug dealer in history. He gives us a history on drugs in Colombia and then vivedly describes how one man basically bribed and terrorized all of Colombia through his sheer brutalness. I knew of Pablo Escobar before I read the book, but did not know the extent to which he went to keep his power. It wasn't until a couple of Americans got killed on a passenger plane that he had blown up that America got directly involved. One has to wonder if he hadn't happened to kill the Americans, would he still be in power today?
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This is truly a great book. Any one who liked Black Hawk Down will love this book. Mark Bowden is a tremendous writer who knows how to tell a story.
Rating:
Summary: Killing UBL next?
Review: The first thing you need to do is click on the picture of this book to see the grisly photo of a fat, belly exposed, bloody corpse of Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar and the hystericaly happy poses struck by his killers. If this sort of thing apeals to you than go for it. The editorial by Amazon summarizes the details of the book pretty much, besides there are 85 other reviews to choose from! The photo captures the essence of the book which is full of gross atrocities to the Colombian people imposed by Escobar and government sponsored hit squads in a war for the hearts and minds of the people. Unthinkable acts, cruel acts of violence all perpetuated in a war fought to control the people by terror. Some of the details are so bad that they shouldn't be mentioned in a review. The implication by author Bowden that the US military super secret Delta Force, DEA, or SEALs involvement in the actual killing is the stuff of big screen followups for the likes of Oliver Stone. Considering the odds and suprising success of the US getting it's man once in the crosshairs my only hope is that maybe the same success can be applied to Usama Bin Laden. Get this book for a true life thrill ride in the hunt for the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar. Also recommended is Gabriel Garcia's Marquez's "News of a Kidnapping" which details a Colombian high profile case during Escobars reign of terror.
Rating:
Summary: Bowden does it again!
Review: After Mark Bowden wrote the highly acclaimed "Black Hawk Down" I thought I had seen the last of this journalist. However, I was wrong. In "Killing Pablo" Bowden has done it again by merging a blow-by-blow account of the manhunt for the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar with little gems of US foreign policy and the future of warfare. While the book in itself is a good read it really becomes excellent if one takes it as a case study of what is to come in the future in the realm of armed conflict. Escobar and his drug cartel was by no measure a government but the casaulties still massed up to thousands during the manhunt for him. Much like Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network these are non-governmental organization waging war!! "Killing Pablo" serves as a reminder that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are not the first, or last, non-state group to seriously threaten the security of nations in the 21st Century.....
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