3 out of 4 stars
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Gringo: My Life on the Edge as an International Fugitive by Peter Conti is a true story of an international fugitive. Dan "Tito" Davis hails from a small town. Once he got out of that town, he got involved in smuggling of drugs, but just when he hit the jackpot, a childhood friend set him up. Facing thirty years in prison, Davis slipped into Mexico, not knowing a word of Spanish. This led to the beginning of a thirteen-year odyssey that led him to visit Third World countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Indonesia, India, and Germany trying to eke out a living and keeping out of danger at the same time.
Gringo is not your run-of-the-mill gangster story. Here the "gangsta" did not have a gargantuan mansion filled with gorgeous girls and expensive cars. Through smuggling of drugs, Tito did mint millions but enjoyed little of it. Once Tito leaves the USA, it's a roller-coaster ride for him (as well as the readers).
The book starts with a bang and the reader is instantly glued to the story from page one. One gets to know Tito's childhood, adolescence, and his other experiences that propelled him towards a career of smuggling. In the entire novel, I relished reading this part the most because of two reasons - one, Tito himself remembers this phase with fondness and two, he has yet not been besmirched by avarice.
An American in Latin American countries is referred to as Gringo. All throughout the book, Tito self-deprecatingly calls himself gringo stupido to highlight his foolish decisions and their consequences. The author has deftly portrayed Tito's continual sense of bereavement from his family and country. The entire story is written with a tinge of humor so readers won't get bogged down by Tito's experiences. There is a multitude of characters in this novel, none of which appear incongruous, which is a testament to the author's writing prowess. The details of Tito's life have been wonderfully portrayed. Conti has excellently described the different locations that Tito encounters while on his long journey through the Third World countries. As a result, readers can walk through Tito's reality.
However, the story plateaus after Tito becomes a fugitive. It becomes repetitive - go to a new place, make friends, try to settle, all the while being nagged by the fear of being caught and then uproot himself to start the process all over again. Some of his adventures ( or misadventures) are nerve-wracking which keep the reader on tenterhooks. Despite this, the repetitiveness will halt you. Every new place Tito travels to, there is a new set of stories waiting to regale the reader who gets hooked and starts devouring the story. Eventually, it's time again to shift base for our protagonist. This frustrates the reader. Consequently, I could not read the book in one go even when I wanted to. Further, in my opinion, it would have been better if Tito had elaborated more on his experience in prison at the end of the book. The novel ended rather abruptly.
This novel has been professionally edited. It's a riveting story however, the relentless pace is also this book's Achilles' heel. The reader is never fully submerged in Tito's life. His forced nomadism, his feeling of not belonging anywhere, and forever looking over his shoulder are never actually felt by the reader. Hence, I will give it a 3 out of 4 stars. This book will definitely appeal to anyone looking for a fast-paced read involving adventures.
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Gringo
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