Customer Reviews

Gangs

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Given the lack of reviews I suspect this book has not been given the attention it deserves.

Tony Thompson is a fabulous author, and writes very candidly and openly about the gang issues plaguing Britain. However, these issues are not just the UK's problem, rather, it's a microcosm of what's happening everywhere on the planet! Tony delves right into the thick of things, interviewing many criminals and researching many events -hands on - to bring together an excellent book covering many gang issues (listed below). Each event is told to us through vignettes; interesting stories that could easily spin off to be books of their own, or movies even!

I really encourage people to read this book. It's a fascinating fast read that keeps you glued from beginning to end. I was particularly fascinated with the Nigerian 419 Scam; if you can't relate to any of the other issues, you can probably relate to those annoying e-mails received trying to get you to assist some helpless soul (typically from Nigeria) with retrieving their non-existent money from a foreign bank. The author recounts a first hand experience that's quite interesting.

Unfortunately this book does leave you feeling a bit unsettled with no resolutions to the crime problems.

1. Introduction
2. Armed Robbery
3. Cocaine
4. Crack
5. Fraud
6. Hi-Tech Crime
7. Bikers
8. Cannabis
9. Money-Laundering
10. Heroin
11. Synthetic Drugs
12. People-Smuggling
13. Kidnap
14. Guns
15. Index

This guy has to be nuts. He researched all his material by going face to face with real criminals who have ties to the underworld. He even smokes crack with a prostitute..

By far the most interesting section was the weed smuggling chapter. I am fascinated by the drug trade in general, and its interesting to see just how similiar things are over here in the states.

There's a chapter on crack, and how it was created to market to lower class society as cocaine sales were declining. Its interesting to view crack by a business standpoint, and as someone who has come from a troubled past and having grown up in a lower income San Antonio neighborhood, it really is quite frightening.

Overall, this was indeed a good read. I bought this book for about 15 USD in the Hong Kong airport, and it has been worth every cent. I have to admit I was surprised by how many things are linked to the underground.