Mmmmmmmmmm...Nice..... . (Mr Nice - Howard Marks)

Name: salgirl

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Mr Nice - Howard Marks
Date:	13/04/01 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, sad, and very well written

Disadvantages: only if you disapprove of cannabis

Depending on your viewpoint on the use of cannabis, you will either tut loudly all the way through, or have a right good belly laugh. Either way, this is a highly entertaining and informative look at the world of drug smuggling.

Howard Marks still possesses his slow, rather deep and drawling Southern Welsh accent, and if you've heard his voice the once you can clearly hear it telling you his stories.

Stories about growing up a intellectually gifted child; his rise to the world of academia and universities; the gradual drift into the world of quick money drug dealing; the friendships that would haunt him in later life.

The relationships forged in his early years of the 1960's helped Howard get a toe hold into a very lucrative market. By a gradual process of networking he comes into contact with a variety of people who are ready, willing and able to help him set up the necessary chains. Some are decent, some aren't. Howard's wonderful narrative describe the characters beautifully, but the one who will stick in anyone's mind after reading the book is the magnificently mental Jim McCann. The out-of-control Irishman who boasted connections with the IRA appears frequently and hilariously throughout the book. Although no-one would laugh in front of him, obviously.

Howard is such a genial sort of bloke that it's hard to slap the Major Criminal or Public Enemy No.1 labels on him. That, however, is ultimately what happens to him when he incurrs the wrath of one DEA agent, Craig Lovato. This is a Drug Enforcement Agent who takes his job seriously, and Howard's impish successes made Craig take it personally. It starts off as quite a laugh as Howard skips in and around, disguised with false names and appearances. He manages to make Mr. Lovato appear an amateur. When he is finally busted, Craig is able to get his own back. And he takes it out on not just him, but his wife and family too.

I liked this bo
ok enormously, because it's an extremely well written book that charts the highs and invariable lows of being a drug dealer. Some of the myths that have grown up around Howard are effectively dismissed by simple explanation. Yes, he had been offered work by MI5 (so hilariously inept it's almost a Carry On script), but not to the extent that was suggested when he was arrested. The infinitely more sinister IRA link is explained away with the introduction to Jim McCann. Of course he had dealings with the CIA and The Mafia, how can you not when dealing with Americans and their drug culture?

Howard Marks might not cut such a dramatic figure without the hype, but he certainly comes across as a well-meaning, humourous, clever, loving husband and father, and proves that he's no drug-ravaged, depraved, evil Baron.

He might have had 43 aliases, 25 world-wide trading companies and just under 90 phone lines, but a more straight-forward and downright nice guy, you couldn't wish to meet. Especially if you've got just the right amount of money in your pocket...

Summary: