Zerozerozero: Look at Cocaine and All You See Is Powder. Look Through Cocaine and You See the World. - Hardcover

"Zero zero zero" flour is the finest, whitest available. "Zero zero zero" is also the nickname among narcotraffickers for the purest, highest quality cocaine on the market. And it is the title of Roberto Saviano's unforgettable exploration of how the cocaine trade knits the world into its dark economy and imposes its own vicious rules and moral codes on its armies and, through them, on us all. Saviano's "Gomorrah," his explosive account of the Neapolitan mob, the Camorra, was a worldwide publishing sensation. It struck such a nerve with the Camorra that Saviano has lived with twenty-four hour police protection in the shadow of death threats for more than seven years. During this time he has become intimate with law enforcement agencies around the world. Saviano has broadened his perspective to take in the entire global "corporate" entity that is the drug trade in cooperation with law enforcement officials, who have fed him information and sources and used him to guide their own thinking and tactics. Saviano has used this extraordinary access to feed his own groundbreaking reportage. The result is a truly amazing and harrowing synthesis of intimate literary narrative and geopolitical analysis of one of the most powerful dark forces in the global economy. In "Zero Zero Zero," Saviano tracks the shift in the cocaine trade's axis of power, from Colombia to Mexico, and relates how the Latin American cartels and gangs have forged alliances, first with the Italian crime syndicates, then with the Russians, Africans, and others. On the one hand, he charts an astonishing increase in sophistication and diversification as these criminal entities diversify into many other products and markets. On the other, he reveals the threat of violence to protect and extend power and how the nature of the violence has grown steadily more appalling. Saviano is a journalist of rare courage and a thinker of impressive intellectual depth and moral imagination, able to see the connections betwe

"Kirkus"
This revealing new book, with a strong focus on Mexico's cartels, surges with fast-moving prose detailing the lives of drug lords and pushers, the inner workings of their violent world, and how their lucrative business (between $25 billion and $50 billion annually) affects all our lives . Saviano describes the complexities of money laundering, how world banks help make it possible, and the many ways in which drugs are smuggled: in paintings, handcrafted doors, frozen fish, and more. Throughout, the author provides vivid stories of the lives of well-known drug bosses and their minions. Saviano says he can no longer look at a beach or a map without seeing cocaine, and many will share that view after reading this dark, relentless, hyperreal report. "

"The Economist"
"Taken as a whole, [ZeroZeroZero] is an angry rebuke to all those traffickers and politicians alike who perpetuate the violence .By reminding readers of the senseless suffering wrought by the cocaine trade, this book makes a powerful case for a new approach.
"Financial Times"
"In articulating [his]cri de coeur, [Saviano] has developed a literary style that switches from vivid descriptions of human depravity to a philosophical consideration of the meaning of violence in the modern world. Indeed, when he revisits his work on Naples the city where he was brought up and from which he is now excluded his reflections soar into the realm of the poetic. But for me, most important of all is the hope Saviano gives to countless victims of criminal violence by standing up to its perpetrators, especially those from his home country.""
Booklist"(starred review)
With keen observation and deep probing, Saviano is an anthropologist and philosopher as much as a journalist. This is an epic account of how the modern cocaine trafficking business came to be and how widespread, how impenetrable, and how intertwined with international commerce and politics and our everyday lives it is. "
Kirkus"
This revealing new book, with a strong focus on Mexico's cartels, surges with fast-moving prose detailing the lives of drug lords and pushers, the inner workings of their violent world, and how their lucrative business (between $25 billion and $50 billion annually) affects all our lives . Saviano describes the complexities of money laundering, how world banks help make it possible, and the many ways in which drugs are smuggled: in paintings, handcrafted doors, frozen fish, and more. Throughout, the author provides vivid stories of the lives of well-known drug bosses and their minions. Saviano says he can no longer look at a beach or a map without seeing cocaine, and many will share that view after reading this dark, relentless, hyperreal report. " --Book Review

"New York Magazine"
"[Saviano s] facts are brilliantly woven into seamless, immersive storytelling New Journalism with better sources and more backbone."
"
Chicago Tribune: "
"ZeroZeroZero" shows a kind of revolted fascination with its own topic: the shadowy and depraved criminal networks fighting for dominance in the international cocaine trade .Saviano writes in a hybrid style that mixes rants and research, narrative and analysis, novelistic flourishes and confessional musings .his obsessive investigations reveal dozens of haunting details.
"Man s Life "
The level of connections Saviano draws, the stories he tells, form an incredible network of modern crime, a web that wraps the whole world with threads so fine they re almost invisible. It s difficult to overstate what Saviano achieves here, "ZeroZeroZero" is a landmark work on the drug world . a must read because it s one of those dangerous books that once you finish reading it the world won t ever quite look the same.
"Penthouse"
This real-life investigation of the international cocaine trade has more crime, corruption, twists, and turns than any mystery novel could dream of. Saviano who already lives under police protection after writing an expose of the Naples mafia digs deep into the world of cartels, money laundering, and brutal violence to paint an insanely realistic picture of the drug trade. "
The Economist"
"Taken as a whole, [ZeroZeroZero] is an angry rebuke to all those traffickers and politicians alike who perpetuate the violence .By reminding readers of the senseless suffering wrought by the cocaine trade, this book makes a powerful case for a new approach.
"Financial Times"
"In articulating [his]cri de coeur, [Saviano] has developed a literary style that switches from vivid descriptions of human depravity to a philosophical consideration of the meaning of violence in the modern world. Indeed, when he revisits his work on Naples the city where he was brought up and from which he is now excluded his reflections soar into the realm of the poetic. But for me, most important of all is the hope Saviano gives to countless victims of criminal violence by standing up to its perpetrators, especially those from his home country.""
Booklist, "starred
With keen observation and deep probing, Saviano is an anthropologist and philosopher as much as a journalist. This is an epic account of how the modern cocaine trafficking business came to be and how widespread, how impenetrable, and how intertwined with international commerce and politics and our everyday lives it is.
"Library Journal"
A wide-ranging and chilling account of how cocaine dominates world markets . This overview of the cocaine industry will be important for legal and criminal collections.
"
Kirkus, starred"
This revealing new book, with a strong focus on Mexico's cartels, surges with fast-moving prose detailing the lives of drug lords and pushers, the inner workings of their violent world, and how their lucrative business (between $25 billion and $50 billion annually) affects all our lives . --New York Magazine

New York Magazine
"[Saviano s] facts are brilliantly woven into seamless, immersive storytelling New Journalism with better sources and more backbone."

Chicago Tribune:
ZeroZeroZero shows a kind of revolted fascination with its own topic: the shadowy and depraved criminal networks fighting for dominance in the international cocaine trade .Saviano writes in a hybrid style that mixes rants and research, narrative and analysis, novelistic flourishes and confessional musings .his obsessive investigations reveal dozens of haunting details.
Man s Life
The level of connections Saviano draws, the stories he tells, form an incredible network of modern crime, a web that wraps the whole world with threads so fine they re almost invisible. It s difficult to overstate what Saviano achieves here, ZeroZeroZero is a landmark work on the drug world . a must read because it s one of those dangerous books that once you finish reading it the world won t ever quite look the same.
Penthouse
This real-life investigation of the international cocaine trade has more crime, corruption, twists, and turns than any mystery novel could dream of. Saviano who already lives under police protection after writing an expose of the Naples mafia digs deep into the world of cartels, money laundering, and brutal violence to paint an insanely realistic picture of the drug trade.
The Economist
"Taken as a whole, [ZeroZeroZero] is an angry rebuke to all those traffickers and politicians alike who perpetuate the violence .By reminding readers of the senseless suffering wrought by the cocaine trade, this book makes a powerful case for a new approach.
Financial Times
"In articulating [his]cri de coeur, [Saviano] has developed a literary style that switches from vivid descriptions of human depravity to a philosophical consideration of the meaning of violence in the modern world. Indeed, when he revisits his work on Naples the city where he was brought up and from which he is now excluded his reflections soar into the realm of the poetic. But for me, most important of all is the hope Saviano gives to countless victims of criminal violence by standing up to its perpetrators, especially those from his home country."
Booklist, starred
With keen observation and deep probing, Saviano is an anthropologist and philosopher as much as a journalist. This is an epic account of how the modern cocaine trafficking business came to be and how widespread, how impenetrable, and how intertwined with international commerce and politics and our everyday lives it is.
Library Journal
A wide-ranging and chilling account of how cocaine dominates world markets . This overview of the cocaine industry will be important for legal and criminal collections.

Kirkus, starred
This revealing new book, with a strong focus on Mexico's cartels, surges with fast-moving prose detailing the lives of drug lords and pushers, the inner workings of their violent world, and how their lucrative business (between $25 billion and $50 billion annually) affects all our lives . Saviano describes the complexities of money laundering, how world banks help make it possible, and the many ways in which drugs are smuggled: in paintings, handcrafted doors, frozen fish, and more. Throughout, the author provides vivid stories of the lives of well-known drug bosses and their minions. Saviano says he can no longer look at a beach or a map without seeing cocaine, and many will share that view after reading this dark, relentless, hyperreal report.
Publishers Weekly, starred
Following 2006 --Publishers Weekly