American Desperado: My Life - From Mafia Soldier to Cocaine Cowboy to Secret Government Asset

If you've seen Billy Corben's underground success documentary, Cocaine Cowboys, you're familiar with Jon Roberts, the sharp-witted businessman and cocaine smuggler. While watching Corben's documentary, you get the sense that Roberts wasn't the violent type, but rather a logistics man and true businessman amongst Columbian cartel maniacs. Perhaps nothing could be further from the truth.

Jon Roberts, by his own admission, is pure evil. His frank discussion of murders and the violence associated with the importation and marketing of billion dollars worth of cocaine for the Medellin cartel comes across like Satan dictating his memoirs. Jon's account of growing up in the New York mafia, his early family life and his adolescence spent hustling dealers on the streets give you insight into the path he chose.

While there are few that would admit to following in his footsteps, the tell-all account proves fascinating, particularly when subsidized by commentary from the stories central characters, including Jon's sister, Judy, Jon's smuggling partner, Mickey Munday, and numerous childhood friends, lawyers and crime partners. The depth of political and judicial corruption is astounding and shows the true underpinnings of power, narcotics and money in the modern era.

Jon's story is shocking, gripping-- and at times, particularly in the Vietnam area, may be hard to sit through. I listened to the majority of this book while on a road trip, occasionally I found myself fast forwarding as Jon's account of murdering and torturing VC soldiers proved too horrifying for those riding with me. That aside, it sheds further light on the development of the Jon Roberts of the early-80s.

Evan Wright does a great job of attempting to independently confirm the majority of Roberts' unbelievable stories-- either through news clippings of the day, or directly from those associated with a specific narrative. In many cases the author is able to corroborate Roberts' story, in cases where a participant has a contrasting recollection of the events, the author is careful to provide that individual the opportunity to share their side of the story.

All in all, if you were a fan of Cocaine Cowboys, you might find yourself wading through 75% of the story before you come across familiar territory and characters. Nonetheless, the first three-quarters of the book is just as interesting and would make a fantastic film.

You'll find yourself stopping throughout this book, thinking "Wait, is this a movie?". It's not. I don't care if this guy made up EVERYTHING he claims to have done, it is absolutely intriguing! He's lived one heck of a life, and if you enjoy learning about REAL criminals, you'll love this book. Well read, too.

This is my 1st audiobook -- and with the enjoyment I've had -- the one that will hook me into growing to love this medium which Audible makes so accessible.

Being based on a true story and verifiable events, which the author periodically fact checks, makes me interested in investing my time to listen. What an incredible story it is.

A spirit and human-ness to the people as the story unfolds.

The admission by the subject that he is a sociopath -- not cable of feeling emotion or empathy (mostly), which is demonstrated throughout his life events.

I wish there were 10 other audiobooks just like this one that I could fully invest myself into. Now I am left searching for other books that are worth my time.

I was impressed by the Cocaine Cowboys documentary, and Jon Roberts on screen.
Here we find the basic grandiose 1950s-60s male American teen-to-young-adult personality: plenty of drugs, a very movie-influenced imagination, all outrageous stunts and stories. It always centers on the one guy and always is beyond reality, more violent and risky, more famous people there, right in the crux of every big event. Most of these guys got a little humility or just burned out and disappeared; some are still here to drone on over dinner about this or that big prank. A lot grew out of the G.I. men's culture going back to WW2. But this guy still has to be the star of every show in history in his own mind. (Or at least, a clever salesman of books now, with a keen sense of what the "true crime genre" buyer wants to hear.) Yeah, some of it is doubtless true, some "larger than life" (in a very scumbag way). But hey, he was everywhere and met everyone? He was a jungle warrior in 'Nam, diving out of planes into the jungles, but there's no record of Jon's military service? Faced off with John Gotti with gangs of guys in Gotti's basement (how did his army get into Gotti's basement past Gotti's guards yet all carrying guns? I get all these big question marks. Dosed Ed Sullivan with acid, tracked down Sullivan's physician, intimidated the physician and effectively blackmailed Sullivan to shut up?
There is a difference between movies and reality; the actors survive these incredible scenes because it is according to a script. The enemies are playing along, the effects people carefully set up the stunts and use pro stunt personnel. There are many takes to get it perfect. Physicians and insurance companies stand by. It is in my opinion astronomically improbable that a real guy could squeak through all these daily death-defying events (straight out of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western, far surpassing any Scorsese movie) and survive. Five times, ten times, two dozen times, OK, but hundreds of times? This is like the peak moments of continuous movies end-to-end. Always as colorful and dramatic as a movie? At is as if the guy is still hanging around a nightclub, BS'ing the impressionable. That is his schtick. Dude, even the 80s was decades ago. (Yawn.)
However, If a tenth of this is true, it is an amazing story, of a real sadistic creep. (In cleverer moments, he sees himself as a reflective of the society's dark side; hired to be what he was, in effect, by people who wanted to keep their hands clean but brush up against his danger; shades of Mike Tyson.) But its all hyped to the point of exhaustion. One way or another, Jon Roberts sold a cinematic sort of drama to the dumb money of this world, and made out pretty well. Is he still doing that here?

American Desperado is written the first person perspective of Jon Roberts and other key figures of his life. Often on the written page a change in first person narration is demarcated by extra spacing between paragraphs. When the book changes perspective the audio version changes narrators. I found that the style helped cement when the novel changed perspectives and allowed for an easier listen.

Jon Roberts is an interesting figure because he is un-apologetically bad. Similar, stories to Jon's have been told in both novels and films. However, this story is unique because it does not allow you any empathy for the main character. I like to say that everyone is the hero of his own story but that is just not true for Mr. Roberts. Jon Roberts is unquestionably the villain of his story.

I really enjoyed this book. The reaction to the main character is a visceral hatred. This may be the only autobiography ever written designed to slander it's subject.

I rank it very high but it is difficult to specify. It is definitly more intriguing and exciting than most crime novels I have read - and this is for real! So if you like that kind of books, this is an excellent choice.

I don't have a specific book to compare to. I would compare it to the crime stories most of us read but this is an unusually interesting and fascinating one - that happens to be true!

No

Yes! And I almost did... Not quite true, but it took only a few very long sessions.

This is one of the few books i've listened to that i'd give another go round. John roberts is a fascinating character. Sociopath, maybe. Evil, probably, however that is certainly hard to feel after getting to know the man, and get to know him you do in this open and insightful biography. Not many bios tell as much as John does, and he does so in such a mater of fact way, regardless of how frightful the scene may be.

The Godfather, however John R is some piece of work. I knew people like him then, for those who survived, they are "the old days" when you could get away with almost anything if you had ½ a brain. He is no Don corleone, Sonny, maybe…
but he ran a show, and people respected him, even if he had a thing for "those" kind of women...

the accent, most of the time, you think its John reading it himself.

Don't hate john, I've read several reviews of the book urging people not to buy it, not to support a criminal, but there's so much more here…John is a flawed human, with a conscience…a survivor, and survive he did! made millions on illegal things, yet was recognised by people close to presidents and other sorta respectable folks. Was respected by Myer Lansky. and in the end, well, after you listen to the book, and catch your breath, google him…there's more to the end of the story than in the listen.

This book give a look inside the head of someone who is pretty much a sociopath, and yet it's not hard to relate to him. His ingenuity as a gangster is amazing--transporting drugs in a car on the back of a tow-truck, for instance. And if you like the book, see this guy in person in a movie called Cocaine Cowboys (available on instant netflix)

I really enjoy books of this Nature, But Jon Roberts stories BLOW even " The Ice man " away. If you make any purchase this year MAKE SURE TO GET THIS BOOK! WOW!

I first was introduced to Jon Roberts from the documentary "The Cocaine Cowboys". In the documentary he was articulate, intelligent, and insightful. In this book he was no different with the exception that, unlike the documentary, in this book he shows an evil side of him which he took great care to hide from the previous encounter.I have no issue reading/hearing stories from the underworld or the battlefield but Jon was simply so unrepentant, graphic, and I couldn't help but think: proud, of his ultra-violent past, that for me at least, it took away from any narrative he was trying to string together. Jon comes off as a deeply conflicted, yet very distributed person. I think the thing that finally put me off the most from Jon was, he seems intelligent, and aware enough of what he was doing, to know the consequences of his actions, to the people he was harming but he still chose to embrace evil. I suppose that may have been the point of the book.Listing to this book was a big downer for me, and I was left simply disgusted with Jon Roberts. Any of the allure, glamour, and flash of the 80's cocaine cowboys is simply gone from me.

Evan Wright is a great author and journalist. I will always read anything written by him. Jon Roberts is now dead, so I guess I don't have an issue here.

I felt it was an adequate performance. Roberts writing is not very good though, so at times the performance felt amateurish, but this was no fault of the narration.

It exercised any semblance of glam I had for the crime word, and despite the fact that I felt this book was a negative, Evan Wright's occasional insights and publishing skill made it at least palatable enough for me to finish.

I'm hoping Evan Wight's next work will be better. But I am sure it will be.