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Cocky

By: Tony Barnes, Richard Elias, Peter Walsh
Narrated by: Graham Mack
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Summary

Curtis Warren is an underworld legend, the Liverpool scally who took the methods of the street corner drug dealer and elevated them to an art form. He forged direct links with the cocaine cartels of Colombia, the heroin godfathers of Turkey, the cannabis growers of Morocco, and the ecstasy labs of Holland and Eastern Europe to source his supply as cheaply as possible and so maximize his profits. He then sold his narcotics around the world, from the clubs of London, Manchester, and Glasgow to the beaches of Sydney, Australia.

His underlings called him the "Cocky Watchman" for his eternal vigilance and his "sixth sense". His pursuers called him "Target One". This best-selling biography, shortlisted for the Gold Dagger for crime nonfiction, uncovers his meteoric rise to become "the richest and most successful British criminal who has ever been caught". Warren was pursued by the elite of British law enforcement but repeatedly evaded their clutches, even walking free from the country's biggest-ever drugs trial.

By the time he had risen to become the biggest trafficker in the country, navigating through gang warfare in Liverpool and a number of hefty seizures, both the police and HM Custom were desperate to bring him down. How they finally did so, after managing to tap his phones and listen to his most intimate conversations, is described in pulsating detail. It also reveals for the first time the preeminent role of Merseyside gangs in the UK's drug scene, and how they rose to such dizzy, dubious heights.

Cocky is a shocking insight into modern organized crime and a vivid account of the workings of the international underworld.

©2011 Peter Walsh (P)2022 Peter Walsh
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Critic reviews

"Compelling." (The Observer)

What listeners say about Cocky

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Interesting

Interesting book, voice narration was good, only criticism is it is easy to get a bit lot along the way. It's interesting to learn about how many people both in law or not can be associated with Cartels. It's interesting to learn about how Liverpool came to be along with it's demographic history and how crime came into fruition in the city.

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Fascinating

Love this in depth insight into Curtis. I’ve read books in the past but this is the best, especially the Steve McLaren- esque Dutch accents, hilarious!!

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Smashed It !!

Absolutely loved this story, Superb
Story couldn't stop listening,Finely narrated,Highly recommend this book if this is the books your in to !! 5 Stars

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Right up my street !

Have followed Curtis Warren's story for over 20 years and this brings closure for me. An intriguing man who had me hooked. Really enjoyed the narration too, quirky but holds your attention.

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A IMMENSE BOOK

Top book about the biggest gangster about in the underworld of Liverpool in the modern era

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Gripping

Loved this and couldn’t wait to get in the car to listen to the next bit, a real trip through history of Liverpool drugs whilst anchoring it to a main character.

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outstanding

great story superb narration pure entertainment. im looking for more by the same narrator. i was a student in Liverpool in those times.

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Excellent reveiw

Very interesting insight into the crime not just in Liverpool but worldwide. A very good read

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Interesting Story - Awful Narration

The narrator is okay when reading the text, but the accent of the Dutch character sounds like a Chinese man with a lisp and distracts so much, repeatedly.
His other regional accents were also shockingly bad, but seriously, the Asian / speech impaired version of a Dutch accent made me wince every time I heard it.
On a plus side, this is a very interesting book. Having read it years ago, it was interesting to hear now, knowing what has happened since the boo was first written.

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Great book by a great writer

Another cracker by Peter Walsh, brilliant story well read to. I would recommend this to anyone

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