Medellín Book Misses Mark

Pablo Escobar’s brother and the Medellín cartel's accountant, Roberto, has finally written a tell-all. If you can call it that. According to a Los Angeles Times review, The Accountant’s Story: Inside The Violent World of The Medellin Cartel, describes the drug dealer's high life: the guns, the dinners, the lavish wealth, and the names of fancy champagnes—“the names of which neither Roberto nor his coauthor seem quite able to spell”—all without a hint of remorse or insight. After Roberto spent 14 years in prison (and was nearly blinded by a letter bomb he received in jail), he still regards the cartel as a reasonable response to Colombia’s economic climate, and argues that the real villains were the country’s rich. Writes the reviewer: “If you're looking for remorse, second thoughts or even interesting reflections on a life essentially lived on the pain and suffering of others, you've come to the wrong place."