I Am the Famous Carlos: The Story of Carlos the Jackal, the World's First Celebrity Terrorist

De: Christina Hoag

Narrado por: Andre G. Chapoy

He was the most wanted man in the world for decades. Carlos the Jackal, the Venezuelan-born terrorist, carried out a wave of attacks across Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. A ruthless self-proclaimed revolutionary and notorious womanizer, he claimed to fight for the Palestinian cause and communist ideology, but also worked as a mercenary for rogue regimes and organizations. After bursting onto the world stage with the 1975 OPEC siege in Vienna, where he took 60 hostages and killed three people, he managed to evade capture for two decades. Finally arrested in a daring raid in Sudan in 1994, he was brought to justice in France, where he is serving three life sentences for his reign of terror. This is the riveting story of how a pudgy Caracas schoolboy became the world’s first celebrity terrorist.

©2023 Christina Hoag (P)2023 Christina Hoag

Well written with solid narration.

Well written book that is just the right length and keeps interest throughout. I listened to the whole book in one sitting and it kept me engaged the whole time. Narrator fit the style of writing and the content really well.

Excellent pdf download

I listened to this book as a break from my normal space opera diet. Included it with the book is a very nicely done PDF file with historical photos. Make sure you download that and take a look.

I remember hearing of Carlos the Jackal when I was a kid growing up. So it was really interesting to go back and listen to the historical Carlos this book is absolutely worth your time.

OK, so it wasn’t space opera but I really liked it.

Very Interesting!

Great writing and performance. Very cool story about a larger than life figure. Have seen movies and shows about Carlos the Jackal, but hearing the full real story is even better.

Good Story and Very Entertaining

I can remember Carlos the Jackal from when I was a kid and never really knew what came of him. This book answered that question and gave some insight into why he became what he did. This was a nice, quick read that kept me interested from start to finish. I would recommend this book to others.

Well Researched Fascinating character!

Most of this book took place before I was born. While Terrorism was a big part of the news for the majority of my life, I was largely ignorant of events chronicled in this book. I was fascinated by the character of Carlos the Jackal. I appreciated the attention to detail and the chronological order of events was easy to follow. The dialogue, scripted carefully, was not overly dramatized and the narrator was solid. Not overly exciting, but given the subject matter, perfectly appropriate!

If you are a Gen X’er like me, I think you will find this book an interesting gap filler in your historical memory!

Terrorism in soap opera format, perfection

This dramatized telling of events takes place between the mid-1960's and the mid-1990's, spans several countries and geopolitical philosophies all while establishing a personal connection to the story's main antagonist and his quest for fame and remembrance. With a steady and exciting pace, we follow Carlos from childhood to adulthood to incarceration and are treated to his flair for presentation and his indulgence of women and drink. The dialogue and settings create an easy to digest history of terrorism through direct actions and social engineering. A splendid lesson told in a captivating manner. [Disclosure: I received this title for free and read at 1.75x.]

Behind the scenes of a prolific professional terrorist

This is an interesting historical novel that, according to the afterword, accurately depicts the historical events in the life of Carlos the Jackal, and only conversations and private moments were created by the author. This novel is good for history readers and historical fiction fans who are interested in late 20th century global politics and terrorism. I am a true crime fan, and I wanted to learn about a terrorist I had never heard of since I don’t know a lot about 70s and 80s history. The novel taught me about the life of Carlos and his prolific career as a professional terrorist, best known for taking dozens of hostages at an OPEC meeting in Vienna. It is interesting that although Carlos claimed that he terrorized to liberate oppressed peoples according to his Marxist ideals, he loved to live a wealthy lifestyle.

Bits of the book were exciting, but other parts were dry and expressed the tedious day-to-day operations of Carlos’s business details and personal life. The novel is written in third person omniscient perspective, which is a good choice. However, I would have welcomed an occasional emotional and thrilling first person perspective from some of Carlos’ victims.

The narrator Andre G. Chapoy did a wonderful job. He has a lovely voice and is very talented at many accents. His enunciation, timing, and everything were excellent.

I requested and received a free audiobook copy from the author, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

Interesting History

**I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.**

Carlos the Jackal is undoubtedly a fascinating subject, and this book provides a detailed account of his life, from his early years in Venezuela to his rise as one of the most infamous terrorists of the 20th century. The author successfully captures the complexity of Carlos's character—his ideological roots, his audacious operations like the OPEC raid.

While the book occasionally feels weighed down by dense details, it excels in presenting Carlos's exploits with clarity and depth. Readers interested in history, espionage, or true crime will enjoy this!

It's well written with a great narrator

Playback speed: 1.2x

This is a dramatized story of Carlos the Jackal. I never really read up on Carlos. I knew there were a couple movies out about him that I had never watched but this was a pretty good book.

This type of book usually isn't in my wheelhouse of listens but it drew me in and kept my interest throughout the whole book.

crime/history

Great book, very good book about a historical crime. A must listen to book if your into crime history. The narrator does an amazing job.