Nemesis
One Man and the Battle for Rio
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
'Breaking Bad meets City of God' Roberto Saviano, author of Gomorrah
HUSBAND.
This is the story of an ordinary man who became the king of the largest slum in Rio, the head of a drug cartel and Brazil’s most notorious criminal.
FATHER.
A man who tried to bring welfare and justice to a playground of gang culture and destitution, while everyone around him drew guns and partied.
DRUG LORD.
It’s a story of gold-hunters and evangelical pastors, bent police and rich-kid addicts, politicians and drug lords and the battle for the beautiful but damned city of Rio.
MOST WANTED CRIMINAL.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Investigative journalist Glenny (DarkMarket) provides a grim look at Rio de Janeiro through the life of Ant nio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, known as Nem, who up until his arrest in 2011 was one of Brazil's most-wanted criminals. Nem's path to crime reads like something out of a novel. Prior to 1999, when his infant daughter Eduarda was diagnosed with a serious and rare disease, Nem was a diligent employee of Globus Express, a magazine distribution company. Unable to raise the needed funds for treatment, Nem turns to Lulu, a local gang leader, who agrees to give him the money; the grateful Nem offers to work for Lulu to pay off his debt. This arrangement leads Nem to become a major drug dealer who "exercised immense authority over a community of 100,000 people," and who may even have managed to continue to direct his cartel's operations from behind bars. Glenny interviewed Nem in prison 10 times and is clearly sympathetic to him ("Nem is no paragon, nor is he the devil"), but still manages to offer a balanced look at his subject. He less successfully attempts to connect Nem's story to the broader context of human nature.
