The Cocaine Diaries: A Venezuelan Prison Nightmare (Paperback) by Paul Keany with Jeff Farrell

 

If you have a good sense of humour and a few hours to kill, the narration alone makes this audiobook enjoyable. Quite frankly, it's that bad, it becomes funny. Written by Irish plumber come drug mule, Paul Keany, you’d expect the writing to be a little ropey, yet this was written with the help of an actual journalist, so Im unsure why it is this bad - but that's not the only thing bad about this book.  At the start, I thought ‘If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime’, which sounds unsympathetic, but Paul's character does little to enable the reader to sympathise or understand this nightmare predicament. 

The book starts with Paul's trip to Venezuela, explaining that he lost his plumbing business in the recession, which sounds dreadful, but I can't understand how you'd think becoming a drug mule (knowingly) would ease the issue, or that you'd get away with it? idiot. Paul mentions recreational cocaine use as part of his weekend lifestyle choices, so I expect he knew dealers already.  

Having failed to smuggle a suitcase with 6 kilos of cocaine out of Venezuela, and being busted at the airport, our hero (he really thinks he is) smuggles cocaine INTO the Venezuelan jail, Los Teques,  so he can deal for prison cash. He also brews illicit alcohol, gets into fights, snorts cocaine daily (his words) and befriends a band of fellow criminals, which at times, makes this nightmare prison sound like a holiday camp (this is where the audiobook narration becomes laugh out loud funny). 

Throughout this book, Paul Keany talks about morality, choices and karma, and having based this book on his prison diaries, his real-life ending is karma all on its own. Paul Keany died of a cocaine and alcohol induced heart attack in 2021 at age 58, which is karma in its purest form, I'd guess, quite like that cocaine he tried to smuggle into Ireland. No sympathy whatsoever. 

If you want a good drug mule, true crime story (with a hint of the Irish), I'd suggest 'You'll never see daylight again' by Michaela McCollum. instead.

www.ryanoxleywriter.blogspot.com 

Titanic: 'Iceberg Ahead' by James W Bancroft

                                                  

The historical facts of the RMS Titanic's infamous sinking have been a morbid maritime currency, in non-fiction books, films, and television documentaries, for well over 100 years. With countless articles written and books published, many stories have been told and retold about the 'unsinkable' ship and have been historically re-written on several occasions.

The most famous that spring to mind 'A Night to Remember' by Walter Lord, and James Cameron's 1997 cinematic masterpiece 'Titanic', which are probably the best of both cinematic and non-fiction retellings. Assuming you've read plenty of Titanic's history (like I have) you'd think 'TITANIC - ICEBERG AHEAD' by James W Bancroft is superfluous in this well-stocked subject matter? Well, yes and no.

The beginning of the book recounts all of the usual Titanic information; when she was launched, where she was from, how big, and unsinkable, her maiden voyage, etc. However, by the second half of the book, the author delves deep into the passengers' lives. Unlike those well-versed accounts of the ship's first-class millionaires on board, this book tells the life stories of passengers, survivors and victims, of the Titanic, from second and third class. 

The social history is fascinating and tragic in equilibrium and is told with impressively researched detail.  Foreboding narrative aside, it's a great book for those not familiar with the tragedy of the Titanic or the lives of those who sailed in her. 

A very recommended read for history buffs and true crime fans, alike! 

www.ryanoxleywriter.blogspot.com

Serpentine - The True Story of a Serial Killer's Reign of Terror by Thomas Thompson

 True Crime seems to be captivating TV audiences these days, and like never before. The latest offering from the UK has been the BBC crime drama The Serpent. I binged it in one week and was captivated by this exotic far-flung tale of a 1970s serial killer, his murder spree, drugging, gem trafficking and poisonous reign of terror. 

Serpentine by Thomas Thompson tells the story of serial killer Charles Sobhraj, the notorious ‘Serpent’ or ‘bikini killer’ who preyed on Western tourists throughout the hippie trail of Southeast Asia during the 1970s. Joined by his band of ‘followers’ you could almost say that this murderer had a cult following, however, unlike Charles Manson, Charles Sobhraj was hands-on when it came to killing. 

The book is a biography of Charles’ life from birth in 1944 up to his eventual capture and jailing in 1976. Over several months in late 1975 and early 1976, the French serial killer (although of Asian and Indian descent) murdered tourists on the ‘hippie trail’. During this period, bodies have been found slain, their corpses strangled and stabbed and burned and drowned, from the paradise beaches of Thailand, through to slopes of the Himalayas and beside the river Ganges. Sobhraj used a variety of aliases, usually from stolen passports, posing as a gem dealer to first extract money, but which (for reasons unknown) quickly escalated into murder. Maybe to cover his tracks or to keep the police from his trail, Charles had a femme fatale in tow (one of many) in French / Canadian Marie-Andree Leclerc, who acted as his wife, and an eventual accomplice (although she feigned innocence through trial). The book is a fascinating delve into The Serpent's crimes, and his heady band of followers, and analytically deconstructs his subsequent trial.

This book is the perfect accompaniment to the smash-hit BBC true crime drama and paints a portrait of a master manipulator psychopath who still resides in jail to this day. 

About the Author; Thomas Thompson was an American journalist and author. He worked for Life magazine from 1961 and died in 1982.

Watch The Serpent on BBCiPlayer

Serpentine by Thomas Thompson is published by Open Road and is available on Amazon Kindle