{"product_id":"the-last-kilo-willy-falcon-and-the-cocaine-empire-that-seduced-america-isbn-9780063265547","title":"The Last Kilo: Willy Falcon and the Cocaine Empire That Seduced America","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“T.J. English hits the bullseye again. This is true crime writing at its most gripping and immediate — a riveting epic about crooked cops, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and politicians who corrupted a continent and got snow to flow out of the tropics. \u003cem\u003eThe Last Kilo\u003c\/em\u003e is a revelation.” —Nicholas Pileggi, author of \u003cem\u003eGoodfellas \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eCasino\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom true-crime legend T. J. English, the epic, behind-the-scenes saga of “Los Muchachos,” one of the most successful cocaine trafficking organizations in American history—a story of glitz, glamour, and organized crime set against 1980’s Miami.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite what \u003cem\u003eScarface\u003c\/em\u003e might lead one to believe, violence was not the dominant characteristic of the cocaine business. It was corruption: the dirty cops, agents, lawyers, judges, and politicians who made the drug world go round. And no one managed that carousel of dangerous players better than Willy Falcon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Cuban exile whose family escaped Fidel Castro’s Cuba when he was eleven years old, Falcon, as a teenager, became active in the anti-Castro movement. He began smuggling cocaine into the U.S. as a way to raise money to buy arms for the Contras in Central America. This counter-revolutionary activity led directly to Willy’s genesis as a narco. He and his partners built an extraordinary international organization from the ground up. Los Muchachos, the syndicate founded by Falcon, thrived as a major cocaine distribution network in the U.S. from the late 1970’s into the early 1990’s. At their height, Los Muchachos made more than a hundred million dollars a year. At the same time, Willy, his brother Tavy Falcon, and partner Sal Magluta became famous as championship powerboat racers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCocaine, used by everyone from A-list celebrities to lawyers and people in law enforcement, came to define an era, and for a time, Willy Falcon and those like him—major suppliers, of whom there were only a few—became stars in their own right. They were the deliverers of good times, at least until the downside of persistent cocaine use became apparent: delusions of grandeur, psychological addiction, financial ruin. Thus, the War on Drugs was born, and federal authorities came after Falcon and his crew with a vengeance. Willy found himself on the run, his marriage and family life in shambles, the halcyon days of boat races and lavish trips to Vegas and parties at the \u003cem\u003eMutiny\u003c\/em\u003e night club seemingly a distant memory.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eT. J. English has been granted unprecedented access to the inner workings of Los Muchachos, sitting down with Willy Falcon and his associates for many lengthy interviews, and revealing never-before-understood details about drug trafficking. A classic of true-crime writing from a master of the genre, \u003cem\u003eThe Last Kilo\u003c\/em\u003e traces the rise and fall of a true cocaine empire—and the lives left in its wake.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“T.J. English hits the bullseye again. This is true crime writing at its most gripping and immediate — a riveting epic about crooked cops, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and politicians who corrupted a continent and got snow to flow out of the tropics. \u003cem\u003eThe Last Kilo \u003c\/em\u003eis a revelation.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNICHOLAS PILEGGI, author of Goodfellas and Casino\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[An] epic narrative . . . English captures vividly the sleazy ambiance of the traffickers’ glory years and law enforcement’s efforts to comprehend an enterprise that, English argues, transformed Miami as a city . . . Engrossing true crime.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A new T. J. English book is cause enough for celebration—but \u003cem\u003eThe Last Kilo\u003c\/em\u003e may be his best yet. In this compelling, character-driven look under the hood of the 80s cocaine trade, readers will be transported to a lost world of glitz that masks a dark and deadly undercurrent of drugs, death, and deception. A powerhouse read.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eALEX SEGURA, bestselling author of Secret Identity and Alter Ego\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"T.J. English deploys a detective's eye for crime and a novelist's skill for narrative in creating a vivid portrait of Miami's legendary 'cocaine cowboy' Willy Falcon in \u003cem\u003eThe Last Kilo\u003c\/em\u003e, an unprecedented tale in the canon of the global drug trade.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJAY WEAVER, a Miami Herald staff writer, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and co-author of Dirty Gold\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sizzling true crime . . . The glittering narrative . . . moves at a brisk clip, with all the glamor and betrayal of top-notch crime fiction. Readers will be rapt.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"The Last Kilo\u003c\/em\u003e further demonstrates T.J. English's mastery in the subject of true crime... He doesn't make excuses for Falcon and Magluta's criminal exploits, but he also gives them a dose of humanity that is often removed from the mainstream media and law enforcement portrayals... [He] has written another home run of a book in his illustrious career.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookreporter, Phillip Zozzaro\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[T.J. English's] access was extraordinary, with such granular details that readers may feel like they're walking in Falcon's incredibly expensive shoes.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48588061278437,"sku":"NP9780063265547","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063265547.jpg?v=1773961462","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-last-kilo-willy-falcon-and-the-cocaine-empire-that-seduced-america-isbn-9780063265547","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}