American Desperado
My Life - From Mafia Soldier to Cocaine Cowboy to Secret Government Asset
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In 2008 veteran journalist Evan Wright, acclaimed for his New York Times best-selling book Generation Kill and co-writer of the Emmy-winning HBO series it spawned, began a series of conversations with super-criminal Jon Roberts, star of the fabulously successful documentary Cocaine Cowboys. Those conversations would last three years, during which time Wright came to realize that Roberts was much more than the de-facto “transportation chief” of the Medellin Cartel during the 1980s, much more than a facilitator of a national drug epidemic. As Wright’s tape recorder whirred and Roberts unburdened himself of hundreds of jaw-dropping tales, it became clear that perhaps no one in history had broken so many laws with such willful abandon.
Roberts, in fact, seemed to be a prodigy of criminality – but one with a remarkable self-awareness and a fierce desire to protect his son from following the same path.
American Desperado is Roberts’ no-holds-barred account of being born into Mafia royalty, witnessing his first murder at the age of seven, becoming a hunter-assassin in Vietnam, returning to New York to become -- at age 22 -- one of the city’s leading nightclub impresarios, then journeying to Miami where in a few short years he would rise to become the Medellin Cartel’s most effective smuggler.
But that’s just half the tale.
The roster of Roberts’ friends and acquaintances reads like a Who’s Who of the latter half of the 20th century and includes everyone from Jimi Hendrix, Richard Pryor, and O.J. Simpson to Carlo Gambino, Meyer Lansky, and Manuel Noriega.
Nothing if not colorful, Roberts surrounded himself with beautiful women, drove his souped-up street car at a top speed of 180 miles per hour, shared his bed with a 200-pound cougar, and employed a 6”6” professional wrestler called “The Thing” as his bodyguard. Ultimately, Roberts became so powerful that he attracted the attention of the Republican Party’s leadership, was wooed by them, and even was co-opted by the CIA for which he carried out its secret agenda.
Scrupulously documented and relentlessly propulsive, this collaboration between a bloodhound journalist and one of the most audacious criminals ever is like no other crime book you’ve ever read. Jon Roberts may be the only criminal who changed the course of American history.
©2011 Evan Wright (P)2011 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Gangster Squad chronicles the true story of the secretive police unit that waged an anything-goes war to drive Mickey Cohen and other hoodlums from Los Angeles after WWII. In 1946, the LAPD launched the Gangster Squad with eight men who met covertly on street corners and slept with Tommy guns under their beds. But for two cops, all that mattered was nailing the strutting gangster Mickey Cohen. Sgt. Jack O’Mara was a square-jawed church usher, Sgt. Jerry Wooters a cynical maverick....
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Nothing Like the movie
- By KEITH on 02-21-13
By: Paul Lieberman
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This Might Get a Little Heavy
- A Memoir
- By: Ralphie May, Nils Parker
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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There was a time when Ralphie May was one of the biggest stand-up comedians in the country, both by ticket sales and by tonnage. While some things changed - Ralphie lost half his body weight - others did not: He will be remembered as one of the most successful comics of his time. Completed just months before his untimely passing, in This Might Get a Little Heavy, Ralphie takes listeners on a behind-the-scenes tour of his life and career, one that winds across the country, over obstacles, beyond heartbreak, and through the golden age of stand-up.
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brilliant and tragic
- By Timothy Trujillo on 08-12-18
By: Ralphie May, and others
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All Souls
- A Family Story from Southie
- By: Michael Patrick MacDonald
- Narrated by: Michael Patrick MacDonald
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The anti-busing riots of 1974 forever changed Southie, Boston's working-class Irish community, branding it as a violent, racist enclave. Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in Southie's Old Colony housing project. He describes the way this world within a world felt to the troubled yet keenly gifted observer he was even as a child. But the threats - poverty, drugs, a shadowy gangster world - were real. All Souls is heartbreaking testimony to lives lost too early, and the story of how a place so filled with pain could still be "the best place in the world".
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this book broke me in the best way
- By anon on 02-14-23
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Wanna Bet?
- A Degenerate Gambler's Guide to Living on the Edge
- By: Artie Lange
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The two-time best-selling author, comedian, actor, and radio icon explains the philosophy that has kept his existence boredom-free since the age of 13 - the love of risk. An avid sports better and frequent card player, Lange believes that the true gambler gets high not from winning, but from the chaotic unknown of betting itself. He recounts some of his favorite moments, many of which haven't involved money at all. In this candid and entertaining memoir, he looks back at the times he's wagered the intangible and priceless things in life: his health, his career, and his relationships.
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who needs Artie (to read)
- By B. Wenners on 08-24-18
By: Artie Lange
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Ice
- A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption - from South Central to Hollywood
- By: Douglas Century
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Ice-T here offers his hip-hop generation’s Horatio Alger story: the narrative of an orphaned child who, drawn inexorably into a harrowing life of crime, ultimately turns away from the streets and, through self-discipline and a single-minded work ethic, forges a path to international fame as a musician and film-and-television star.
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I have a whole new respect for this man!
- By kris on 11-19-12
By: Douglas Century
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Gotti's Rules
- The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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The notorious Gotti family is the stuff of mob legend. The "Dapper Don", John Gotti Sr., and his son John A. "Junior" Gotti ran New York's powerful Gambino crime family and were well known for their flamboyant style and brutal ways, an image perpetuated in popular Mafia mythology. John Alite, a mob hit man, associate, and close friend of the Gottis, has a very different story to tell.
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Garbage read
- By Ray on 09-02-15
By: George Anastasia
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Gaspipe
- Confessions of a Mafia Boss
- By: Philip Carlo
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, the boss of New York's Lucchese crime family, was a Mafia superstar, responsible for more than 50 murders. Currently serving 13 life sentences at a federal prison in Colorado, Casso has given journalist and New York Times best-selling author Philip Carlo the most intimate, personal look into the world of La Cosa Nostra ever seen.
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The author fails the objectivity test
- By William on 11-29-08
By: Philip Carlo
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Detroit
- An American Autopsy
- By: Charlie LeDuff
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In the heart of America, a metropolis is quietly destroying itself. Detroit, once the richest city in the nation, is now its poorest. Once the vanguard of America’s machine age - mass production, automobiles, and blue-collar jobs - Detroit is now America’s capital for unemployment, illiteracy, foreclosure, and dropouts. With the steel-eyed reportage that has become his trademark and the righteous indignation that only a native son can possess, journalist Charlie LeDuff sets out to uncover what has brought low this once-vibrant city, his city.
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WOW
- By Avid Reader and Listener on 07-09-13
By: Charlie LeDuff
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90 Church
- Inside America's Notorious First Narcotics Squad
- By: Agent Dean Unkefer
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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90 Church is both the unbelievable memoir of one man's confrontation with the dark corners of the human experience and a fascinating window into a little-known time in American history. Learn the story of the agents who make the DEA look like choirboys.
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AMAZING!!!
- By Nick on 03-22-16
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Orange Sunshine
- The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World
- By: Nicholas Schou
- Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Dubbed the "Hippie Mafia", the Brotherhood began in the mid-1960s as a small band of peace-loving, adventure-seeking surfers in Southern California. After discovering LSD, they took to Timothy Leary's mantra of "Turn on, tune in, and drop out" and resolved to make that vision a reality by becoming the biggest group of acid dealers and hashish smugglers in the nation, and literally providing the fuel for the psychedelic revolution in the process.
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Trip down the rabbit hole
- By Casey Doerr on 04-19-22
By: Nicholas Schou
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The Death of Cool
- From Teenage Rebellion to the Hangover of Adulthood
- By: Gavin McInnes
- Narrated by: Gavin McInnes
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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This is his story, or, rather, stories - lots of them, and all gut-punchingly hilarious, from that first far reach into a girl's tight jeans to turning forty with a cataclysmic party. In between you’ll hear about acid trips, threesomes, Nazi skinheads, his band Anal Chinook (Inuit for “warm wind”), Martians in northern Canada, throwing pedophiles in jail, dinner with the Clash, what happens when you crash Bill Maher's show wasted, and the true story of Vice magazine.
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if you don't buy this book, the terrorists win
- By Kelsey Gholi on 04-03-17
By: Gavin McInnes
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The Murder of Sonny Liston
- Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights
- By: Shaun Assael
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On January 5, 1971, Sonny Liston was found dead in his home - of an apparent heroin overdose. But no one close to Liston believed that his death was accidental. Digging deep into a life that Liston tried hard to hide, Shaun Assael treats the boxer's death as a cold case. The result is a riveting whodunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas.
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Great read
- By Diane Dodge on 09-14-19
By: Shaun Assael
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5 stars
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The gun control debate is revived with every mass shooting. But far more people die from gun deaths on the street corners of inner city America and across the border as Mexico’s powerful cartels battle to control the drug trade. Guns and drugs aren’t often connected in our heated discussions of gun control - but they should be. In Ioan Grillo’s groundbreaking new work of investigative journalism, he shows us this connection by following the market for guns in the Americas and how it has made the continent the most murderous on earth.
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"Johnny Boy" Gotti burst onto the national scene after a double murder catapulted him to the top of the Gambino family, the largest and most feared Mafia family in the USA. Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci reveal the man behind the headlines.
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Felt like I was listening to court transcript.
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In a ranch south of Texas, the man known as The Executioner dumps 500 body parts in metal barrels. In Brazil's biggest city, a mysterious prisoner orders hit men to gun down 41 police officers and prison guards in two days. In Southern Mexico a meth maker is venerated as a saint while enforcing Old Testament justice on his enemies. A new kind of criminal kingpin has arisen: part CEO, part terrorist, and part rock star, unleashing guerrilla attacks, strong-arming governments, and taking over much of the world's trade in narcotics, guns, and humans.
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Good analysis and interpretation, but...
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The Unknown Mongol
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This is the true story of ex-Mongols M.C. National President Scott Junior Ereckson. From a young teen, peering from behind a bush at an unknown Mongol, Scott fulfills his childhood dreams. In later years, after many experiences, he becomes one of the most respected and feared Mongols to this day.
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Superb book ruined by muppet voices
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What listeners say about American Desperado
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- michael
- 01-17-12
Turns the lovable bad guy cliche on it's head
Would you consider the audio edition of American Desperado to be better than the print version?
American Desperado is written the first person perspective of Jon Roberts and other key figures of his life. Often on the written page a change in first person narration is demarcated by extra spacing between paragraphs. When the book changes perspective the audio version changes narrators. I found that the style helped cement when the novel changed perspectives and allowed for an easier listen.
What did you like best about this story?
Jon Roberts is an interesting figure because he is un-apologetically bad. Similar, stories to Jon's have been told in both novels and films. However, this story is unique because it does not allow you any empathy for the main character. I like to say that everyone is the hero of his own story but that is just not true for Mr. Roberts. Jon Roberts is unquestionably the villain of his story.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I really enjoyed this book. The reaction to the main character is a visceral hatred. This may be the only autobiography ever written designed to slander it's subject.
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- TribalJeebus
- 07-19-18
wow! unbelievable life story.
Absolutely insane life story! If you have interest in the Cocaine Cowboys, Medellin Cartel etc....then the story of Jon Pernell Roberts will blow your mind, believe me!. From being born into Italian Mafia royalty(the son of a made man and nephew of Staten Island Joe), Soldier for the Gambino crime family, Airborne Infantryman in Vietnam, Cocaine Cowboy and one of the top 5 gringos for the Medellin Cartel(Pablo Escobar's organization) and even secret Government arms trafficker. From start to finish,this story will grab your attention and when it ends you will be searching for more! Regardless of your feelings about this man, he lived life to the fullest and did it his way. In the end he outlived almost all of the people around him and survived it all until cancer got him years later. I give this book 5 stars and it is a MUST read to fans of the
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- AmyG
- 11-29-18
Best book I've listened to on Audible to date!
Narrator was as good as it gets. From the first words to the last, couldn't stop listening.
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- Thomas Denney
- 10-27-19
Incredible
One of the best non-fiction books I’ve ever read. And I have read a lot. This one definitely sits at the top of the list.
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 12-19-18
exceptional!
great account of his crazy life! i was on the edge of my seat the whole book!
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- D. Caro
- 11-03-19
This was my 1st audio book I loved every sec of it
This book was awesome the details in the story were told were crazy. I had seen the movie cocaine cowboys so I want to look into this book and I am very happy I did
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- Jeremy Warren
- 08-12-18
Incredible story!
I was hooked and couldn't stop listening. The career that this guy has had was fascinating. I wish someone would make a TV series of his life. It would have multiple seasons in order to tell the whole story. Very well written and read.
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- T Time
- 06-22-16
Mad it had to end
What made the experience of listening to American Desperado the most enjoyable?
The book was arranged like jon roberts was sitting down telling you personally about his life, so gripping and interesting!!! Best audio book ever!
What other book might you compare American Desperado to and why?
none
What about Mark Bramhall’s performance did you like?
his voices was excellent!!!!!!
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Hell yes
Any additional comments?
My only regret is I coudn't give it 10 Stars
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- James B.
- 08-06-21
Fantastic!!!
This is by far the best audio book I’ve ever experienced!!! Just finished it and I think I’m going to restart it immediately.
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- Shawn fleming
- 01-25-21
Better than the documentary
I hate to say this, but I am glad this guy is dead. He was bad, and the world is better without him.
Great story
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