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Marching Powder
- Author
- Rusty Young
- Narrator
- Adrian Mulraney, Rusty Young
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Publish Date
- 19 April 2018
- Run Time
- 14 hours 4 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'All the staples of the prison memoir are here: sadistic guards and attempted break-out, the terrors of solitary confinement, the joys of freedom . . . The result is a truly gripping piece of testimony'
Sunday Telegraph
A darkly comic, sometimes shocking account of life in San Pedro, the world's most bizarre prison, through the eyes of one bemused Englishman.
When Thomas McFadden was arrested trying to smuggle five kilos of cocaine out of Bolivia, he was flung into San Pedro prison - the strangest penitentiary system in the world. Thomas was astonished to discover that corrupt politicians and major-league drug smugglers lived in luxury apartments in one wing, while the poorer sections of the prison were too dangerous to enter after dark. Prisoners had to pay for everything: their cells, their food and their clothing, not to mention the many bribes required by the police. To survive in San Pedro you needed an income - and so prisoners turned to the trade they knew best: manufacturing cocaine. Even the prison cat was addicted to crack.
Initially mistaken for a hated American, Thomas survived numerous attempts on his life as he tried to adjust. In Marching Powder he describes his journey from despised gringo to San Pedro's most famous inmate. After trying drug dealing, shopkeeping and becoming a Mormon pastor, he hit upon the idea of giving guided tours of the prison. Thomas became legendary on the South American backpacking circuit - which is how he met young lawyer Rusty Young. Rusty was so impressed by him that he moved into the prison for three months to write his story - discovering that behind the show Thomas put on was a much darker reality, where brutality and death were common currency, and sometimes even the strongest didn't survive.
Critics Review
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All the staples of the prison memoir are here: sadistic guards, an attempted break-out, the terrors of solitary confinement, the joys of freedom . . . The result is a truly gripping piece of testimony.
Sunday Telegraph
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Astonishing real-life story of a Brit drug smuggler banged up in Bolivia's most notorious jail.
FHM
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This exotic, cautionary yarn opens the abyss beneath our wealthy world.
Uncut
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The book is filled with characters ranging from outrageous to inspiring, and Young layers on the texture – sights, sounds, smells – until we feel as though we have visited the place. Travel literature of a very special and captivating kind.
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Details
- Author
- Rusty Young
- Narrator
- Adrian Mulraney, Rusty Young
- Duration
- 14 hours 4 minutes
- Release Date
- 19 April 2018
- ISBN
- 9781529002300
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Genre
- True crime, Biography: general, Drugs trade / drug trafficking, Penology and punishment, Organized crime, Travel writing
Synopsis
'All the staples of the prison memoir are here: sadistic guards and attempted break-out, the terrors of solitary confinement, the joys of freedom . . . The result is a truly gripping piece of testimony'Sunday TelegraphA darkly comic, sometimes shocking account of life in San Pedro, the world's most bizarre prison, through the eyes of one bemused Englishman.When Thomas McFadden was arrested trying to smuggle five kilos of cocaine out of Bolivia, he was flung into San Pedro prison - the strangest penitentiary system in the world. Thomas was astonished to discover that corrupt politicians and major-league drug smugglers lived in luxury apartments in one wing, while the poorer sections of the prison were too dangerous to enter after dark. Prisoners had to pay for everything: their cells, their food and their clothing, not to mention the many bribes required by the police. To survive in San Pedro you needed an income - and so prisoners turned to the trade they knew best: manufacturing cocaine. Even the prison cat was addicted to crack.Initially mistaken for a hated American, Thomas survived numerous attempts on his life as he tried to adjust. In Marching Powder he describes his journey from despised gringo to San Pedro's most famous inmate. After trying drug dealing, shopkeeping and becoming a Mormon pastor, he hit upon the idea of giving guided tours of the prison. Thomas became legendary on the South American backpacking circuit - which is how he met young lawyer Rusty Young. Rusty was so impressed by him that he moved into the prison for three months to write his story - discovering that behind the show Thomas put on was a much darker reality, where brutality and death were common currency, and sometimes even the strongest didn't survive.
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