Not sure how to rate this, most likely a 3.5/5. It was definitely an exciting read although the first third was a bit slow, as it was largely a retelling the backgrounds of DEA agents Steve Murphy and Javier Pena. I suppose it's important to understand their backgrounds, it humanised their personas a lot more.

I was already familiar with the Narcos series, so already came in knowledge (albeit, dramaticised) of Pablo Escobar. This is important because otherwise you're lost. This is a memoir of the two agents, chapters usually alternating between Murphy and Pena. Don't expect a detailed overview of the drug trade or Escobar himself.

It was nice to see the inner workings and the gruelling lifestyle of the agents and more importantly, the contributions of the Colombian military/police.

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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. ( )

Excellent reading on the hunt for Pablo Escobar, told through the eyes of two DEA agents assigned to his case. The book switches back and forth between the two agents, Murphy and Pena. I have read other books about Escobar, but this one really resonated with me.
It starts with the background on both men, covering their early careers. This part alone was fascinating reading! Some of the exploits they relate were incredible.
The book then goes into how the authors found themselves in Columbia, and of the search for Escobar. It was quite the journey, from gathering evidence, to the initial capture, to his escape, and then the search beginning again. As the noose draws tighter around Escobar, the book becomes even more exciting. It had me on the edge of my seat.
The book also goes on to explain what happened after Escobar's demise. How the Cali Cartel swooped in and took over after Escobar's Medellin cartel was destroyed. The author's doubts about the success of the entire operation, considering the deaths of hundreds of police officers, the bombings, the kidnappings, and the death of untold numbers of civilians. They cover the strange things that happened in Columbian politics post-Escobar. As the author says, "You'd go crazy trying to make sense of things that happen in Columbia".
The author points out the fact that, even with the "War on Drugs" being prosecuted for over 40 years now, Columbia still produced a record level of coca in 2017. Enough to manufacture more than 1300 TONS of cocaine! They stress the need for education of school children about the danger of drug abuse.
One final thought. The author, relatively early in the book, tells about the DEA and the US Attorney's in Miami preparing an indictment against Raul Castro (Fidel's brother in Cuba), for distribution of hundreds of kilos of cocaine. And how the indictment was squashed, by "higher ups". And how they discovered that Ronald Reagan himself was the person who squashed it. Interesting, indeed! I would love to know more about this. But I understand the author's reluctance to pursue it. He might even amend his prior quoted statement to read, "You'd go crazy trying to make sense of things that happen in Washington, DC"!
An extremely interesting book. Highly recommended. ( )