Nemesis: The Hunt for Brazil’s Most Wanted Criminal Paperback – 7 July 2016

Das Buch erzählt die wahre Geschichte von der Kindheit bis zum heutigen Tag in Haft von Nemesis, einem (ehemaligen) einflussreichen Don einer Favela in Rio de Janeiro. Ein großer Stellenwert wird auf die persönlichen Beweggründe des Mannes gelegt, was sehr erkenntnisreich ist. Darüber hinaus erfährt man viel über die politischen, wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Umstände in Brasilien generell und insbesondere den Favelas von Rio. Wer sich für die Thematik der organisierten Kriminalität interessiert und z.B. Roberto Saviano gerne liest, der wird von Nemesis begeistert sein. Misha Glenny ist ein absoluter Fachmann. Das Buch ist sehr gut recherchiert, bietet umfangreiches Hintergrundwissen und bindet darin die packende Geschichte des Protagonisten mit ein.

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At first I was a bit skeptical about an English writer writing about my city and a story that was one way or the other a related to my life. Misha completely surprised me with this well written novel. When you grow up in Rio, you hardly need fiction as every day life can be way more exciting. I learned a lot about my own city's history and struggled to carry on with my daily responsibilities as I was so eager to continue reading, even though the end it's something I saw on TV just five years ago. For me, that's the sigh of a really good novel and I will follow up his career and pick up another one of his books.

I purchased this book because i am a Londoner that has lived in Brazil for 45 years. Having moved freely around Rocinha in the early 1970's I can testify to the fact that it was then a favela of poor migrant people rather than the violent place that it became once Brizola the then Rio governor cut a deal with the drug trafficers to leave them alone in exchange for not having problems on the asphalt.I agree fully with the evaluation of another reviewer that Glenny has spent far too much time focusing on his fascination of Nem and less on attempting to getting to the bottom of the favela's real problems, the police, corruption, political disinterest etc. and turned him into a kind of latter day folk hero. Nobody survives in that violent environment without being violent themselves. To understand the underlying mindset and mentality of the guys from the morro, one has only to read about the incredible cruelty of the death of the journalist Tim Lopes on Google which Glenny doesnt even bother to mention and which influenced public opinion tremendously at the time. You only have to look into their eyes to understand that these guys are walking dead themselves.I also take great exception to his statement that Lula created Bolsa Familia. This was created by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, his predecessor. What Lula did was consolidate all of FHCs social programmes into Bolsa Familia (information also available on Google). His fascination with Lula in calling him one of the two greatest presidents Brasil has ever had is an interestingly absurd overreaction to a man who is currently under suspision of having robbed billions of dollars.Aside from that it is an entertaining and easy read which does provide much accurate insight into the problems of favelas arising from their abondinment by the state.

The detail is amazing but doesn't slow down the story one bit. It gives you a real feel for the character, the place where he operates and the social impact the drug trade has on a community, negative and positive. This guy can write!