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Books : Cocky: The Rise and Fall of Curtis Warren, Britain's Biggest Drugs Baron
Rating: 
- It Reminded Me Of Home so much......
I have been waiting for this book to be sent to me in New York for a few weeks now.When i did receive it, i read it in 3 nights,mostly because i just couldn't put it down once i had started.I had to read "one more chapter" every night before i could go to sleep (even though it was 3.30 am most of the time). I am from Liverpool and i personally knew all the places and a lot of the names involved but even if i didn't,it still would have been a very,very good and interesting read.There are still certain questions that are unanswered, such as "How did a young scouse lad,just like anyone elses brother or son from Liverpool end up being such a 'Big Time Charlie' in the criminal underworld ? There is some really funny extracts as you would expect in a book about some scousers ("Where is The Cafe Byus ?" asked the Dutch police after searching telephone books & telephone operators only to find the lads meant to meet at the cafe by us) ha ha ha ! nice one.
Rating:
- Cocky- A Dead Fly on the Wall Overview
If you like a good hearty account of international drug trafficing, this is for you. If you want to get inside the head of Curtis Warren, clearly it is not. Whilst the authors appeared to have lots of access to court reports, newspaper clippings and those 'in the know' in police and customs, they cannot disguise that they knew very little about Warren himself and of course this is part of Warren's mystique and intention. Early teenhood is sketchy. He was up in court. He was convicted. Details have become lost in the mists of time. In later years, the transformation from alleged 'street-scally' to alleged local and later international drugs baron is not described in any detail to enable the reader to trace this metioric rise. It was only when detailing transcrips of telephone bugs by Dutch Police, do we get any idea into Warren's character and even then there is a sense of overkill born of 'making up for lost time' as the text stoops to voyerism in describing that Mr Warren, amazingly, likes women in white skimpy tops. The book tries hard to tell what might turn out to be a remarkable story. Curtis Warren is imprisoned in Holland and is lodging appeal after appeal. In seeking to be first off the starting blocks in relating this tale, the authors have to paper over the gaps of missing information and inconclusive evidence and outcomes. There does remain, on the authors' part, a reluctant admiration for Warren whose personal qualities, in their view are misdirected. The same might be said of the motivations of the authors. Expect an updated version within 18 months. They might then be able to be in a position to fill in some of the missing pieces and draw some new conclusions.
Rating: - Frightening revelations, stylishly told
The first thing that strikes you about this book is the authority of the writing. Cocky takes you deep into the frightening and worryingly addictive world of real life crime. We've all read about drug busts and organised crime, all come across glib references in the news to drug barrons and crime lords - here's a book which introduces you intimatley to the biggest Mr Big of them all. It would be easy for the book to deal in cliches and swim around on the surface - splashing around in stories of drugs, fast cars and violence. But this goes much deeper, satisfying the reader's desire for thrill and also feeding the hunger for analysis and context. Unusual for a crime book to be so enlightening and so enjoyable to read.
- It Reminded Me Of Home so much......I have been waiting for this book to be sent to me in New York for a few weeks now.When i did receive it, i read it in 3 nights,mostly because i just couldn't put it down once i had started.I had to read "one more chapter" every night before i could go to sleep (even though it was 3.30 am most of the time). I am from Liverpool and i personally knew all the places and a lot of the names involved but even if i didn't,it still would have been a very,very good and interesting read.There are still certain questions that are unanswered, such as "How did a young scouse lad,just like anyone elses brother or son from Liverpool end up being such a 'Big Time Charlie' in the criminal underworld ? There is some really funny extracts as you would expect in a book about some scousers ("Where is The Cafe Byus ?" asked the Dutch police after searching telephone books & telephone operators only to find the lads meant to meet at the cafe by us) ha ha ha ! nice one.
Rating:
- Cocky- A Dead Fly on the Wall OverviewIf you like a good hearty account of international drug trafficing, this is for you. If you want to get inside the head of Curtis Warren, clearly it is not. Whilst the authors appeared to have lots of access to court reports, newspaper clippings and those 'in the know' in police and customs, they cannot disguise that they knew very little about Warren himself and of course this is part of Warren's mystique and intention. Early teenhood is sketchy. He was up in court. He was convicted. Details have become lost in the mists of time. In later years, the transformation from alleged 'street-scally' to alleged local and later international drugs baron is not described in any detail to enable the reader to trace this metioric rise. It was only when detailing transcrips of telephone bugs by Dutch Police, do we get any idea into Warren's character and even then there is a sense of overkill born of 'making up for lost time' as the text stoops to voyerism in describing that Mr Warren, amazingly, likes women in white skimpy tops. The book tries hard to tell what might turn out to be a remarkable story. Curtis Warren is imprisoned in Holland and is lodging appeal after appeal. In seeking to be first off the starting blocks in relating this tale, the authors have to paper over the gaps of missing information and inconclusive evidence and outcomes. There does remain, on the authors' part, a reluctant admiration for Warren whose personal qualities, in their view are misdirected. The same might be said of the motivations of the authors. Expect an updated version within 18 months. They might then be able to be in a position to fill in some of the missing pieces and draw some new conclusions.
Rating:
- Frightening revelations, stylishly toldThe first thing that strikes you about this book is the authority of the writing. Cocky takes you deep into the frightening and worryingly addictive world of real life crime. We've all read about drug busts and organised crime, all come across glib references in the news to drug barrons and crime lords - here's a book which introduces you intimatley to the biggest Mr Big of them all. It would be easy for the book to deal in cliches and swim around on the surface - splashing around in stories of drugs, fast cars and violence. But this goes much deeper, satisfying the reader's desire for thrill and also feeding the hunger for analysis and context. Unusual for a crime book to be so enlightening and so enjoyable to read.