Customer Reviews

The Most Dangerous Man in the World

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes it is true. This book is nothing but a collection of various stories which I read on the net, magazines and heard on the news. The only new part is the Osama & Ibrahim connection.

Being a journalist myself, I find this book a shocker.
Spelling mistakes are galore (Confidante is spelt confident, Hit is spelt Him etc.) which even a Grade 5 student will pick up. Facts have not been researched into at all and they just pile up according to King's whims and fancy.

As a journalist, I have done a lot of research in this field, not for publishing but just as part of my curiousity, and Gilbert King is lacking in every aspect.

Factual mistakes:
1. Babri masjid is claimed to be in Bombay (It is in Ayodhya)
2. Sharad Shetty clamied to be shot in his office (He was shot in India Club, Dubai, UAE)
3. Rohit Verma claimed to be informer and a.k.a Michael. (In fact Michael D'Souza was a different person all together). Jagdish Shetty(India) was the informer not Verma. Why would Verma call the assassins and have himself killed ???? Hello Gilbert King ???Verma was Rajan's closest friends who did his dirty job. Sarita was not Verma's wife but his mistress.

There is absolutey nothing about Dawood's early Bombay days. Just a para about the Pathan gang. In fact his early days are more interesting than everything else. His split from the Pathan Gang was the major move in his life. And how from 1983-1987 he eliminated each and every rival by sitting in Dubai.

This book needs a lot to be desired. I give it One star for the nice cover and the other star because it did induce me to buy it !!!!!

Spare yourself the change, more accurate info with photos can be had on the net for free. There are no photos as well in this book!

Great subject, there is very little about a man who influences the lives of so many people.

However, I found little or no new information about Dawood Ibrahim, that is already not published in any other source. It is a summary of most published material.

The book is also quite repetitious and repeates the same information quite a few times. I wish there was more information about his empire and about his rise to power. I guess the reason cited in the book about journalists being afraid to write about Dawood hold true here.

Anyway a good attempt. I hope somebody builds further on it and comes out with more voluminous book.

The book's name is a misnomer. Initially, it talks about how Dawood made his way upto the top in the shady underworld, but then the focus shifts from Dawood to Afganistan, Pakistan, CIA, ISI etc, and ends up in establishing the relationships between these entities. What role Dawood plays or is playing in these tie ups is not mentioned. Only few pages do justice to the book title.

I bought this book only because Amazon had it listed at a bargain price. This is a classic example of the old saying that "you get what you pay for". I'd be shocked if it took more than a week to write the book, and if the author had to use more than his web browser to find sources. Almost every source citation listed can be found on the Internet. I say "almost" because I think there's at least one book cited, so you might have to make a trip to the library too. But everything else is out of Time, the Economist, Vanity Fair, the New York Times, NGO whitepapers, etc.

I found the book difficult to read, due to the breathless hype over the subject (I mean, he's the MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN THE WORLD after all) and the fair-to-poor writing. There's no new information here, just a recap of what other people have written. And that's my main problem with the book- half an hour or less with Google and Wikipedia will tell you as much if not more about Dawood Ibrahim than this book will.

In this hastily prepared book it doesn't take long to discover that you are reading a manuscript written for those unfamiliar with Dawood Ibrahim and his operation. What I hoped to find was a detailed explanation of the inner-workings of the D-Company and the powerful hand which guides it from behind the intelligence cloak. Without a detailed knowledge of India and its history of strife between the Muslim and Hindu communities, it is difficult to understand where Ibrahim fits into the picuture. You're not going to get a clear understanding of the dealings of where Ibrahim's D-Company activities end and Intelligence groups like Pakistan's ISI begin. No elumination on the shadowy connections between the D-Company, ISI, Al-Qaeda and the CIA. These confusing alliances remain unresolved. In painting a picture of Ibrahim as a ruthless drug smuggling foreign mob boss with ties to terror organizations and foreign intelligence operatives, the average American citizens worst fears post 9-11 are realized.

Most irritating about this title is the lack of new information. The book is filled with information you can find in the archives of the Mumbai newspapers. The information on Al-Qaeda and Ibrahim is purely speculative and no information has been produced since this book hit the shelves to explain the alledged ties between the two groups. Most disturbing is the failure of the author to examine the true nature of the D-Company. Is it indeed a criminal organization or is it a wing of the Pakistani ISI operating within India? Are the battles between Dawood Ibrahim's followers and Chhota Rajan's hindu mob truely based along religous lines or are there factors pushing both groups which remain hidden from the public?

Perhaps now western media will begin to understand the power and influence of Dawood Ibrahim. Pakistan gladly hosts this dangerous terrorist and he pays off the Pakistani government with billions reaped from opium and other illegal businesses. Most Dangerous Man in the World presents an accurate and horrifying picture of the man who has the power to corrupt governments, advance his terrorist agenda and make himself and his D Company bhais rich.

As the author points out, it is probably just a matter of time until the world learns the name of Dawood Ibrahim. This book also paints a disturbing picture of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence and its involvement with Dawood. Pakistan will not like this book because there is a great deal to answer to. I highly recommend anyone interested in current events, especially concerning terrorism to read this paperback. It is timely and up to date and a solid investigation into the inner workings of a true global terrorist.

Fascinating read. Initially, I thought some of the author's claims about Dawood Ibrahim were purely speculative--especially the nuclear black market chapter. But the Times of India recently did a story about this book and intelligence sources confirmed Dawood's involvement. This is frightening.

Some of the book is hard to follow since the major figures all have aliases, and the Indian press is notorious for getting stories wrong. (I especially love the chapter where Rajan is reported dead for days, then gives an interview from his yacht in Europe!) Indian journalism is as entertaining as Bollywood itself!

The connections between Ibrahim and Osama Bin Ladin/al Queda are very interesting too, and it's a good thing the US is finally taking Ibrahim seriously as a terrorist. I would have liked to know more about how Ibrahim's D Company really gained its power in Bombay, but it is understandable how no journalists have had success penetrating Dawood's world. After reading this not very long book, it's clear that Dawood Ibrahim really is very bad man!