From true-crime legend T. J. English, the epic, behind-the-scenes saga of “Los Muchachos,” one of the most successful cocaine trafficking organizations in American history—a story of glitz, glamour, and organized crime set against 1980’s Miami.
Despite what Scarface might lead one to believe, violence was not the dominant characteristic of the cocaine business. It was corruption: the dirty cops, agents, lawyers, judges, and politicians who made the drug world go round. And no one managed that carousel of dangerous players better than Willy Falcon.
A Cuban exile whose family escaped Fidel Castro’s Cuba when he was eleven years old, Falcon, as a teenager, became active in the anti-Castro movement. He began smuggling cocaine into the U.S. as a way to raise money to buy arms for the Contras in Central America. This counter-revolutionary activity led directly to Willy’s genesis as a narco. He and his partners built an extraordinary international organization from the ground up. Los Muchachos, the syndicate founded by Falcon, thrived as a major cocaine distribution network in the U.S. from the late 1970’s into the early 1990’s. At their height, Los Muchachos made more than a hundred million dollars a year. At the same time, Willy, his brother Tavy Falcon, and partner Sal Magluta became famous as championship powerboat racers.
Cocaine, used by everyone from A-list celebrities to lawyers and people in law enforcement, came to define an era, and for a time, Willy Falcon and those like him—major suppliers, of whom there were only a few—became stars in their own right. They were the deliverers of good times, at least until the downside of persistent cocaine use became apparent: delusions of grandeur, psychological addiction, financial ruin. Thus, the War on Drugs was born, and federal authorities came after Falcon and his crew with a vengeance. Willy found himself on the run, his marriage and family life in shambles, the halcyon days of boat races and lavish trips to Vegas and parties at the Mutiny night club seemingly a distant memory.
T. J. English has been granted unprecedented access to the inner workings of Los Muchachos, sitting down with Willy Falcon and his associates for many lengthy interviews, and revealing never-before-understood details about drug trafficking. A classic of true-crime writing from a master of the genre, The Last Kilo traces the rise and fall of a true cocaine empire—and the lives left in its wake.
Author Info
T. J. English is a noted journalist and author of the New York Times bestsellers Havana Nocturne, Paddy Whacked, The Savage City, and Where the Bodies Were Buried. He also authored The Westies, a national bestseller; Born to Kill, which was nominated for an Edgar Award; and The Corporation. His journalism has appeared in Esquire, Vanity Fair, Playboy, and New York magazine, among other publications. He lives in New York City.
Reviews
“T.J. English hits the bullseye again. This is true crime writing at its most gripping and immediate — a riveting epic about crooked cops, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and politicians who corrupted a continent and got snow to flow out of the tropics. The Last Kilo is a revelation.” — NICHOLAS PILEGGI, author of Goodfellas and Casino
“A new T. J. English book is cause enough for celebration—but The Last Kilo may be his best yet. In this compelling, character-driven look under the hood of the 80s cocaine trade, readers will be transported to a lost world of glitz that masks a dark and deadly undercurrent of drugs, death, and deception. A powerhouse read.” — ALEX SEGURA, bestselling author of Secret Identity and Alter Ego
"T.J. English deploys a detective's eye for crime and a novelist's skill for narrative in creating a vivid portrait of Miami's legendary 'cocaine cowboy' Willy Falcon in The Last Kilo, an unprecedented tale in the canon of the global drug trade." — JAY WEAVER, a Miami Herald staff writer, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and co-author of Dirty Gold
"[T.J. English's] access was extraordinary, with such granular details that readers may feel like they're walking in Falcon's incredibly expensive shoes." — Wall Street Journal
"[An] epic narrative . . . English captures vividly the sleazy ambiance of the traffickers’ glory years and law enforcement’s efforts to comprehend an enterprise that, English argues, transformed Miami as a city . . . Engrossing true crime." — Kirkus Reviews
“Sizzling true crime . . . The glittering narrative . . . moves at a brisk clip, with all the glamor and betrayal of top-notch crime fiction. Readers will be rapt.” — Publishers Weekly
"The Last Kilo further demonstrates T.J. English's mastery in the subject of true crime... He doesn't make excuses for Falcon and Magluta's criminal exploits, but he also gives them a dose of humanity that is often removed from the mainstream media and law enforcement portrayals... [He] has written another home run of a book in his illustrious career." — Bookreporter, Phillip Zozzaro
