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Product Description
Review
'Next to Warren, the Krays were pathetic minnows.'
--THE OBSERVER
--THE OBSERVER
Product Description
Shortlisted for the Macallan Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
Curtis Warren is an underworld legend, the Liverpool scally who took the methods of the street-corner drug pusher and elevated them to an art form. He forged direct links with the cocaine cartels of Colombia, the heroin godfathers of Turkey, the cannabis cultivators of Morocco and the Ecstasy manufacturers of Holland and Eastern Europe. His drugs went around the world, from the clubs of Manchester, Glasgow and Dublin to the golden beaches of Sydney.
His underlings called him the Cocky Watchman. His pursuers called him Target One.
This best-selling biography uncovers his meteoric rise from Toxteth mugger to `the richest and most successful British criminal who has ever been caught.' It relates how the Liverpool mafia became the UK's foremost drug importers; tells how Warren survived gang warfare and how he corrupted top-level police officers; unveils the inside story of the biggest UK law enforcement operation ever undertaken; and reveals the explosive contents of the covert wiretaps that brought his global empire crashing down.
Thoroughly revised and updated, Cocky is a shocking insight into organised crime and an important investigation into the workings of the international drugs trade.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Being from Merseyside I was particularly keen to digest this book as I remember being scared to leave the house back in the dark days of 1996 when gangland tit-for-tat shootings brought the city to its knees! However, to say I was a little disappointed is somewhat of an understatement. Much of the material was of an official nature and other tit-bits were merely common knowledge on the streets so groundbreaking information was severely limited. Also, it failed to directly engage a number of the main characters discussed in the body, such as Tony Bray, Curtis himself or any of the Ungi family. Overall, I found to be almost like a police report rather than an investigative piece of accomplished journalist which is unfortunately why I have rated it at only 2 stars.
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this after reading Killing Pablo (an awesome tale, and a superbly-written book). To say that this is about the British equivalent of Pablo Escobar would be quite an exaggeration.
It's clear that Curtis Warren was a nasty individual, and clearly someone I wouldn't wish to cross. It's equally clear, however, that the gentlemen who wrote this book did very little to research their subject fully. They mention at the beginning of the book that several of the key players in the story are still subject to legal proceedings, and cannot, therefore, be named in this book. I'd suggest that it might have been better to wait until a full account could have been made, because all I got out of this book was a collection of facts that I'd have got if I'd been reading the tabloids in 1995 and 1996.
Their writing style is firmly in the tabloid journalist mould, too. Consequently, the book is very easy to read, but I found myself wincing sometimes at the amateurish way that some situations were described in the book.
As a factual account of Warren's dealings, this is quite poorly written. As an explanation of how Toxteth came to be a breeding ground for all sorts of criminals, it's more interesting, but that's only about the first 40 pages of the book.
If you have an interest in Warren, or drug barons in general, this book is a relatively interesting read. But if you've read any other books on the subject, you probably won't get anything new out of this one.
It's clear that Curtis Warren was a nasty individual, and clearly someone I wouldn't wish to cross. It's equally clear, however, that the gentlemen who wrote this book did very little to research their subject fully. They mention at the beginning of the book that several of the key players in the story are still subject to legal proceedings, and cannot, therefore, be named in this book. I'd suggest that it might have been better to wait until a full account could have been made, because all I got out of this book was a collection of facts that I'd have got if I'd been reading the tabloids in 1995 and 1996.
Their writing style is firmly in the tabloid journalist mould, too. Consequently, the book is very easy to read, but I found myself wincing sometimes at the amateurish way that some situations were described in the book.
As a factual account of Warren's dealings, this is quite poorly written. As an explanation of how Toxteth came to be a breeding ground for all sorts of criminals, it's more interesting, but that's only about the first 40 pages of the book.
If you have an interest in Warren, or drug barons in general, this book is a relatively interesting read. But if you've read any other books on the subject, you probably won't get anything new out of this one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
So, so
Not gripping enough. It seems Curtis is popping up all over the place. He even gets a mention in Body Bags and Shallow Graves.Body Bags and Shallow Graves
Published 4 months ago by Jack
a fab cocky
i could not put this book down for one second. i was amazed how one man could run an empire all details in his mind. Read more
Published 12 months ago by michelle
Brilliant Read.
Having read quite a few books on drug smugglers, i have to say this is one of my favourites and have read it a few times. Read more
Published 17 months ago by A. Smith
Not what I expected......but ok
Its an entertaining read, loads of names mentioned sometimes made it hard to remember who's who but not too bad.
Published 18 months ago by P. D. Glendon
ok not great
this is a pretty good book but the problem is its all from the accounts of police and customs, so theres no stories or comments from the man himself like what he spent his money on... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Adam
A surprisingly good read.
I read this book quickly and found it entertaining and well written. I was surprised.
Published on 18 Feb 2010 by Ms Cribbler
Worth a read
To be honest only quater of this book is actually about Curtis Warren. Ok fair enough its nice to have an insight into the drug world as a whole but curtis warren gets mentioned... Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2009 by Philip Harrison
Excellent delivery
Well you dont get any better than this, ordered one day and delivered within 48hrs to Jersey.
Published on 19 Nov 2009 by Mr. Derren Philip Glover
Slow starter but gets good
The biggest problem with this book is that it is made up of second or third hand accounts. In my opinion it doesn't actually get interesting until you are about half-way through.
Published on 13 Sep 2009 by Mr. D. J. Weller
pead off
this is not an autobiography,its a coppers account and i was bord stiff afer a few pages...an autobiography with this guy would be a better idea in my opinion....awfull read
Published on 27 Sep 2008 by Mr. L. Hodge
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